Good preparation is key to impressing interviewers and getting invited to the next stage of the clinical nurse recruitment process. Fortunately, some questions come up again and again. Reviewing them and practicing answers for them will let you walk into your next interview feeling calm, cool and collected.
Let’s explore some of the most popular but difficult clinical nurse interview questions, along with how to answer them.
Clinical Nurse Interview Questions You Should Prepare Answers To
1. Why Did You Choose This Specialism?
Whether your specialism is pediatrics or rehabilitation, oncology or wound care, you can expect to be asked about it. Broad questions like this are a gift, as they allow you to determine the direction of your answer. Take advantage of that by preparing a response that will position you as the ideal candidate.
A good answer to this question will not only demonstrate your passion for your specialism but also why you’re a good fit for the role and the team. You could work in relevant, impressive experiences, too.
For example, you might explain that when you introduced systematic changes to processes in your last workplace to ensure patients were connected with the right at-home support, it underscored the value of your work. Or, you could say that you realized you had chosen the right specialism when, as a psychiatric and mental health clinical nurse, you successfully convinced a patient with paranoia to take their medication.
2. Why Are You Leaving Your Current Position?
Regardless of why you’re leaving your job, you want to present yourself positively — which means not being negative about your old workplace. Instead of explaining what led to your decision to quit, reframe the question by talking about what this new position will offer you instead.
For example, you could say: “Although I love the environment and my coworkers in my current workplace, and I’m proud of what we achieve every day, I believe there would be more opportunities to challenge myself working here. It’s a much bigger department, and I know more complex cases are often transferred here.”
3. What Are Your Biggest Strengths and Weaknesses?
Many interviewees treat this question as a trap to avoid. They try to think of the smallest weakness possible, such as being overly conscientious, while mentioning the same strengths that appear on the job listing.
If that approach sounds appealing to you, think again. What your interviewee really wants to know is if you’re self-aware and are actively working on being a better clinical nurse. Dig deep and come up with some honest answers: it will make a better impression.
To frame these answers well, give an example for each one. For your strength, emphasize the positive impact it has on patients and other nurses. As for your biggest weakness, try using the STAR — situation, task, action, result — structure. For example, you could say:
“When I first started working, I struggled to explain patients’ medical conditions and treatments to them in a way that was easy to understand (situation). This left patients unsure and nervous, so I’ve been working hard on improving my explanations (task).
“I asked other nurses for advice, started asking more comprehension-based questions and paid attention to the language my patients used so I could better adapt (action). I notice that this makes patients feel more positive about their treatment and empowered to adapt their lifestyle (result).”
4. What Would You Do If You Disagreed With Another Member of a Patient’s Healthcare Team?
This question checks that you understand the importance of safety and patient advocacy. You want to show that you have the assertiveness required to speak up when you’re right and the humility to recognize when you’re wrong.
Explain that you would talk with that team member and, if necessary, a manager to agree on the best possible healthcare for the patient. If you have ever been in a situation like this before, and you feel you handled the situation well, explain what happened using the STAR method.
5. Describe a Time That You Saw a Way to Improve Health Care Delivery Systems. What Was It, and What Did You Do?
If you’re an experienced clinical nurse specialist, you’ve probably got lots of examples to draw on. When picking one, consider how impressive the results were, how innovative the improvement was and how relevant the situation is to your specialism and the healthcare center you’re interviewing at.
At the same time, don’t underestimate the power of being passionate. If you’ve got an example that you’re particularly proud of or that was extremely important to you, consider making that your answer. Your interviewee will see how strongly you care, and this can make a lasting impression.
If you’re less experienced, you may have fewer examples to choose from, but don’t let that affect your confidence. No matter how small the improvement is or how informally it was implemented, you can use it to show that you are proactive about finding ways to improve health care delivery. The STAR model will help you structure the answer.
6. Tell Me About a Time You Made a Mistake and How You Handled It
If an interviewee asks you this, they want to see three things: that you can own up to making mistakes, that you found an appropriate solution to the situation and that you learned from it. So, even though it might be tempting, don’t try to sidestep this question by mentioning the ways you avoid making mistakes. Instead, be honest and upfront, and reframe your error as a positive learning experience.
7. Do You Have Any Questions for Us?
Don’t overlook the importance of this question. It’s your chance to check that this workplace is a good fit for you, as well as impress the interviewer with your attitude toward the role.
Before you go to the interview, think about what truly matters to you in the workplace. That might be staffing ratios, shift patterns or areas for professional development. Then, balance this out with questions that show you’re focused on long-term success at this workplace, such as “How will my performance be measured?”
Improve Your Chances of Getting Invited to Clinical Nurse Interviews
The first step to impressing your interviewers is creating your resume: it’s what will get you invited to interview, and it’s what many recruiters will review after you leave.
A good resume will show off your best features, be easy to read (both by humans and machines!) and be customized to clinical nursing. Fortunately, we’ve got plenty of clinical nurse resume templates for you to choose from. They’re all ATS-readable, so you can highlight your best features — no matter your specialism or experience level.
Build your clinical nurse resume in just 10 minutes.