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E Canning, Northern Ireland
M Liu, Colchester, Adult Nurse Band 6
G. George, Trainee Nurse
Brian Small, Reading, RG1, Mental Health Nurse
DR V Oli, (ST2)
Nursing Job Interview: Tips and Techniques plus Interview Questions for Nurse and Healthcare jobs
By Annette Lewis
I have recruited for many nursing and healthcare positions in the UK and have created interviews for jobs ranging from healthcare and nursing assistants, staff nurses at all grades, practice, district and registered nurses and nurse team leaders.
I am aware that for many people an interview can be a daunting prospect and in fact, the fear of interviews puts many off moving to a new employer or applying for a new job.
Sadly, they miss out on potentially great promotions, increased salary, and more interesting roles and this need not be the case.
This article includes a guide to the types of questions you are likely to encounter in nursing and healthcare job interviews.
Interview Questions for Nursing and Healthcare job interviews
Within the NHS today, you will more than likely be asked to take part in a Competency Based Interview either in front of a panel or with an individual and will be asked a series of questions exploring your skills, qualifications and experience.
I have split the questions into the following four categories.
1. Training and Qualifications: In this category you should expect questions exploring your understanding of governance, clinical effectiveness, NHS and Trust targets as well as your understanding of medical terminology.
2. Previous Experience: The interviewer will ask questions based on your experience as shown on your CV.
3. Core Competencies: This relates to key skills required such as your ability to have good time management, to work in or manage a team, to demonstrate effective communication and patient care skills and the application of your technical medical knowledge.
4. Personality, Motivation and Coping Skills: Your reasons for applying or for choosing your area of specialisation and how well you deal with difficult situations such as the death of one of your patients.
Expect 3-4 questions on each area along with questions relating to your understanding of issues and targets within the NHS.
Sample Interview Questions for Nursing Interviews
You should expect the majority of your questions to be Competency Based and Behavioural.
For example, how would you answer these questions?
Interview Question 2: 'Describe a time when you used your communication skills to improve the care of on of your patients '
Interview Question 3: 'Describe for us a time when you used your leadership skills to resolve a difficult patient situation.''
Interview Question 4: 'Tell us about a change you made to your working practices in order to improve patient safety.'
Interview Question 5: 'How would you go about ensuring that you improve the quality of the care you give to your patients?'
Interview Question 6: 'Tell us about a decision you made recently which had a positive effect on your patient's care.'
* Questions taken from the InterviewGOLD™ Interview System.
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