Coming up to the New Year we know that a lot of people are starting to plan for newer pastures for 2011.

To help you kick start your jobs search we have some sample Interview Questions which we feel should get you thinking about applying for that healthcare job. A healthcare interview is different from other interviews in that you really must think be able to relate past experiences with clinical expertise. Here are some examples of Questions you might be asked in a healthcare interview.

Sample Questions to assist you in preparation for interview

1. What has interested you about this job? Think carefully about this question and stress positive aspects that have attracted you. Indicate that you have done some research on the Hospital e.g. looking up websites
2. Tell us about your clinical placements to date?
3. What are your long term career aspirations? Stress opportunities for personal growth, new challenges, ongoing education etc.
4. What do you think you can bring to the ward if we recruited you? Include strengths that you think you have and can bring to the position with examples of times you demonstrated these.
5. What support do you think you may need? Orientation etc
6. What are the skills and qualities that you feel are required to be a good staff nurse?
7. As a registered nurse what skills do you have which will help to ensure effective communication with patients, and relatives within our hospital?
8. What do you understand by privacy and dignity?
9. How do you put this into practice?
10. What do you think are the most important concerns of patients when they come into hospital?
11. How can you help to reduce cross infection within the clinical area?
12. What measures would you take to ensure that you are a safe practitioner whilst you are doing a drug round?
13. As a registered nurse what do you feel constitutes professional behaviour?
14. What skills would you require to support a student nurse in her first year of training?

Scenarios

You might be given some scenarios to discuss with the Interview panel. Be prepared for clinical scenarios and use your past experiences as guidance.
• You are looking after a patient who has been admitted for an angiogram. He buzzes and tells you he has chest pain. He is looking grey and sweaty. What are you going to do?
• You come on duty and you find that the sister who was on duty with you has gone off sick. You are left on the ward with an agency staff nurse, two third year students and two HCA’s. How would you deal with the situation.
• You are taking care of a patient and they complain about your care, how would you deal with that? If you were unable to resolve the issue, what would you do?
• You are looking after a patient who returned from theatre having had a bowel resection 4 hours ago. He has been quite stable until his blood pressure drops to 90/40. What may be the cause of this and what will you do?

Useful Websites:
o Nursing and midwifery council (UK)L www.nmc-uk.org
o National Health Service; www.nhs.uk
o Royal College of Nursing: www.rcn.org.uk
o Department of Health: www.dh.gov.uk
o Kate Cowhig International Recruitment: www.kcr.ie
o Unison: www.unison.co.uk
Remember these questions are just examples of those you may be asked. Please read up on notes in relation to your specialty, conditions of the patients, anatomy and physiology, equipment used, nursing care, drugs used and day to day questions.

If you have any queries or wish to speak to us today about any job opportunities that are available online call 00 353 1 671 5557 or email info@kcr.ie today for further details.