Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital seeks to hire those with strong problem-solving skills. When were you able to successfully resolve a problem in the workplace?

"In my most recent position, we had a consistent problem with employees arriving late for their shifts or calling in sick at the very last moment. Rather than the typical documenting and reprimanding style that management usually takes, I decided to track the results of an accountability reward system. For 180 days, my employees were rewarded for coming to work 10 minutes early. Ultimately, we awarded those with perfect attendance a 600 bonus. In the end, the bonus cost us less money than the cost of lowered productivity due to absent employees. The program was successful, and upper management chose to keep it implemented for another six months. We will re-assess in December, but it seems to work very well."

"I was working in a clinic where the primary population was low income. We had a lot of concerns with patients not showing up for appointments when expected. The staff wanted to start double-booking patient time slots. Instead, I got permission to spend a day in a highly-rated clinic serving the same population. Instead of scheduling, they had these 'drop-in mornings' with a common waiting room. I took these methods and incorporated them into our setting. We did that twice a week, and it completely solved our scheduling problem."

You want to show the interviewer you have a systematic way of resolving problems in the workplace. While some issues might take longer to resolve, many problems you encounter in the healthcare industry must be resolved quickly. Let the interviewer know you can resolve all types of issues using your critical thinking and problem-solving skills.