If offered this role as our next community health nurse, how much supervision do you feel you would need in your initial months on the job?

"This is a great question and honestly one I put a lot of thought into even prior to applying. This is a dream role that I've been preparing for over the course of my career and I'm confident that my skills and abilities will allow me to jump right in and succeed in a short period of time. Of course, becoming familiar with the day-to-day duties of this community nurse position will be important, so I'm not naive in thinking I can step in from day one and hit the ground running without any supervision. I would foresee shadowing to be a huge part of my orientation when it comes to parts of this job like presenting public educational seminars and preparing wellness materials. Can you please elaborate a bit on what you expect the orientation plan would be for the person you hire?"

This can be a tricky question to answer, so think it through ahead of your interview and be prepared to give an answer that illustrates that you are "coachable" without being too dependent or needy. You also want to project that you are confident and competent without being arrogant or troublesome for the nursing team that you'll be joining. Your interviewer ideally wants the best of both worlds, so be prepared to describe your competency, initiative, and willingness to both ask for and receive feedback and direction.