Are you specialized in a particular area of nursing, i.e. neo-natal, pediatric, geriatric, or women's health?
On this particular question, the interviewer is looking to hear from you where your passions fall in the nursing field. They can tell where your experience comes from in your resume and now it is time to showcase your passion for the job that you are interviewing for.
If you are interviewing for a specialty area within nursing that you have worked in the past, talk about your interests in that area and why the job is important to you. If you are interviewing for a new specialty area of care, look to point out similarities of your past duties and experiences and how they will translate to this potential new job. New graduates to the nursing field should talk about their clinical experiences and why they see this job as the best fit for their career.
"Having worked in Family Practice as a nurse for my entire career, I've had the joy of working with mothers and their newborn children for their care when they were sick. I've provided care for newborns that have had a wide array of sicknesses and have always loved that aspect of that of my job. With my career goal always being working on an obstetrics unit, my experience working with newborns will translate well."
"As a new graduate not being specialized at this time, I want to gain as much nursing knowledge as I can in my first job out of school. During my clinical rotations, my opportunity working on a Med/Surg unit was great as I worked with patients from a very diverse background with a variety of illnesses and injuries. This rotation is what brings me here today for your open Med/Surg nursing position. I'm really looking forward to broadening my nursing skills on a unit like this and working with patients from all walks of life."
"When I came out of nursing school, my dream was to work in a home health setting. After putting in my time to gain experience, I landed the job that I am currently working in a home health setting. Over the years, I have gained a great amount of experience working in that setting where I have received excellent patient satisfaction scores and have become very effective and efficient working away from an office on the road. Your opportunity highly interests me as it would enable me to utilize my skills in a much larger scope while still providing me the opportunity to continue learning and growing in my career."
"Since I just recently graduated from my nursing program and obtained my nursing license, I don't consider myself specialized in a particular area of nursing yet. However, during my clinicals, I excelled the most in my emergency department and critical care rotations. I attribute my success in these rotations to the years I spent working as a technician in the emergency department at the local hospital. So, while I cannot honestly say I specialize in a particular area of nursing as of yet, I am most comfortable working with emergency and critical care patients."
"Yes, I am. When I first became a nurse I had a passion for cardiac nursing. As I worked in this area of nursing I was exposed to trauma nursing as well. I fell in love with this immediately and the need to think critically and respond quickly. I now have my trauma nurse certification and have worked as a trauma nurse for several years."
Community answers are written by other candidates practicing this set. Reading how others frame the same question is one of the fastest ways to sharpen your own.
Anonymous Answer
As a new graduate, I don't currently have a specialty. I want to use my entry-level position as a way to cultivate my skills and knowledge to prepare me for the rest of my career. Part of the reason why I chose THR's Versant program is that we will be rotated through other specialties to gain the confidence needed to support our careers.
Rachelle's Feedback
Great answer! Although you do not yet have a specialty, you make a clear case that this role will help guide you into one.
Anonymous Answer
As a new nurse, I am not specialized in any area of nursing, but I can say that I did exceed in my ICU rotations during nursing school.
Rachelle's Feedback
Good for you! Are you looking at a specialty in intensive care, or would this be too soon for you to know? Either way, it's absolutely okay :)
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