Behavioral Based Interviewing is one of the most commonly used interviewing styles used by employers because it predicts future performance and behavior.
You should answer these questions with examples from your real life experiences.
Many behavioral interview questions for nurses fall under these categories:
- Communication, Time Managment, and Leadership skills
- Teamwork/collaboration
- Problem solving
- Response to pressue/stress/challenges
The STAR technique is a great approach to answering behavioral based questions:
S: Situation. Describe the situation you were in.
T: Task. Explain the tasks you needed to complete.
A: Action. Describe the actions you took to compelte the task
R: Result. What was the end result of your efforts.
Behavioral Based and Nursing Specific Questions. Many of the questions below were shared with me from nursing student interviewees and hospital interviewers.
- Please share with us why you chose nursing as a professional career and what you hope to gain from this career.
- What would your clinical instructors and/or previous employers tell us are your strengths?
- How do you describe “caring” as it relates to patient care? Give an example of how you showed “caring” in a patient care situation.
- You are still on orientation in your clinical. The physician asks you to perform a task but your preceptor is at lunch, and no one is available to help you. You explain to the physician you are on orientation, and should not do this without your preceptor. The physician says, “no problem,” and he/she will assist you. What would you do?
- What are the top 2-3 strengths for today’s nurse to have? Give me an example of a time you demonstrated one of them.
- Describe any leadership or other type of activities you may have participated in that have contributed to your professional
- Have you ever witnessed a breach of confidentiality & what did you do? If not, what would you do?
- Our hospital works with a diverse group of patients. What can you rbing to the table to help work with these patients?
- How do you deal with stress and stressful situations?
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Describe a time you've dealt with a patient that constantly complained. What did you do in this situation?
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What are the most challenging things about being a nurse? Name your top three and explain how you address each challenge.
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What would you do if you did not have enough supplies in the supply room? What are the steps that you would take?
- What do you know about this hospital/unit/position?
Additional articles that you may find helpful:
