Interview Questions

For future new, graduate nurses, I will list some interview questions I got while interviewing for my RN position after graduation.

Some typical/general interview questions came at me, like:
1) Give me an example of when you had to work in a team. What was your role. How did you handle problems that arose?

2) Name one of your greatest achievements.

3) What are your long-term goals?

Some general nursing questions were asked, like:
1) Why did you decide to be a nurse?

2) What is one bad thing about nursing? & How do you plan on dealing with that?

3) Describe how you would do a wound assessment.

4) Describe for me a time when you had prepared fully for a medical situation only to have the entire situation change and "fall apart." How did you recover and prepare to handle the new situation?

5) What would you do if you had a patient who had a complaint you could not resolve for them?

6) What qualities do you have that make you the right person for this position?

Some very specific nursing scenario questions also came up, like:
1) What would you do if you had a female patient who was accompanied by her husband in the hospital. Because of their religion, the wife was not allowed to make any decisions independently, but she wanted to have a procedure done. Her husband was forbidding the procedure?

And, similarly:
2) What would you do it you had a pediatric patient who needed a procedure done, but the mother was very emotional, crying saying she just cannot have this procedure done to the child.

3) How would you try to convince a pregnant patient who bottle-fed her first baby to breastfeed this baby?

4) What would you do if you were in charge of care for 8 patients and one of them just found out they have terminal cancer. The patient was alone, very upset and crying, but there were 3 other patients who needed your attention right then as well.

And, my favorite one because it took me off guard and made me think a little:
1) Imagine you have a 15 year old come onto your floor in labor. During your admission assessment, you learn that she has had no prenatal care, is mentally challenged, and the pregnancy is a result of a sexual attack. How would your care for this patient be individualized? What things would you do/not do?