Tell me about a time you had to write up a staff member.

"A nurse aide recently complained to me that a nurse had screamed at her for forgetting to turn off a patient's call light before leaving the room. I did investigate the complaint, and another staff member said he witnessed this event, as did a patient in the hallway. I next pulled the accused nurse aside and spoke with her about the incident. She acknowledged that she was frustrated with the nurse aide and did yell at her and said she would apologize. Our company has a strict no-tolerance policy on this type of behavior, and I did review that policy with the nurse and let her know this was not acceptable conduct and that she would be receiving a write-up. I followed up with the nurse aide and let her know I addressed the situation (without providing details) and to please continue to voice concerns if other instances occur in the future. It's hard to write staff up sometimes because we all get frustrated and lose our cool from time to time; however, company policies are in place for a reason, and I strictly adhere to them and expect staff to do the same. Everyone has the right to a safe workplace."

As a charge nurse, you will be responsible for managing others; sometimes, that responsibility includes disciplining staff members. This can be a difficult and uncomfortable situation at times, so the interviewer would like to understand your approach and process in this type of situation. Give an example, and include the cause of the disciplinary action and how you followed a company policy and addressed the situation. This is an opportunity to showcase your communication, conflict resolution, and problem-solving skills!

I once had to write up a CNA for a fall that resulted in injury to the patient. During my investigation, I found that the CNA had initialed the 15 min checks on the patient as being completed. Upon review of the camera footage, I found that the CNA did not check on the patient for several hours and had actually falsified the documentation on the 15 min checks. In my opinion, this was a safety issue that resulted in the injury of the patient and could not be a situation when the CNA could be educated first. This was an incidence when disciplinary action had to be taken to ensure that the safety of her patients was not jeopardized again.