Nursing Mock Interview

Practice 50 Nursing interview questions covering clinical scenarios, patient care priorities, and ethical decision-making.

Question 49 of 50

Tell me a bit about yourself.

How to Answer
Experienced 1
Entry Level 1
Experienced 2
Entry Level 2
Community Answers

Ryan Brunner

Ryan Brunner has over ten years of experience recruiting, interviewing, and hiring candidates in the healthcare, public service, and private manufacturing/distribution industries.

Having recruited in the nursing and healthcare industries for many years, I know that nursing leaders are looking to ideally hire well-rounded individuals that come to their team with great clinical skills, great people skills, and are excellent humans outside of the workplace. While a lot of things may be tough to gauge for the nursing leader while interviewing you for a short period of time, they open the door for you to give your best sales pitch on who you are as both a professional nurse and person.

Your answer here should ideally lay out chronologically with a bit about your upbringing (personal values), what made you pursue a career in nursing (motivation), and the path you took to get you to this interview today (education and work history). Also, be open about your family and personal life to give your interviewer some insight into the fact that you will be a nurse on their team that hold strong family and personal values, which will reflect positively on the patients you will be caring for.

Ryan Brunner

Ryan Brunner has over ten years of experience recruiting, interviewing, and hiring candidates in the healthcare, public service, and private manufacturing/distribution industries.

"Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to talk more about who I am as a professional and a person. My nurturing personality was fostered from a very young age, where I was brought up in a small community where families all knew each other. The sense of brotherhood among neighbors was a great feeling. I grew up in a family as the older of four siblings, so caring for my younger brothers and sisters when they were sick was common with a father and mother both working full-time. I knew that I wanted to pursue a nursing degree during high school and attended University to obtain my bachelor's degree right away. I worked hard to obtain my degree in four years and hit the workforce for the last six years in an exciting critical care unit. In the meantime, since graduating, I've married my soulmate, and we have two amazing sons, ages 4 and 2. Outside of work, we spend most of our free time outdoors on walks, hiking, boating, and grilling as much as possible. My family life helps me keep any work-related stress at work, and it helps me come to work for each shift refreshed and ready to go."

Ryan Brunner

Ryan Brunner has over ten years of experience recruiting, interviewing, and hiring candidates in the healthcare, public service, and private manufacturing/distribution industries.

"As you can see from my resume and application materials, I'm about to graduate with my bachelor's degree in nursing and I'm very proud of my journey to get where I'm at today. Having hit the work force out of high school for five years in customer service jobs, I wanted to make a change for me and my family so I applied to college to obtain this degree at the advice of a couple of great friends that are RN's. I continued to work full-time and obtain my degree. As I've gone through my classwork and clinical rotations, I've continued to love and gravitate towards care for the elderly and your opportunity is really my dream job. If I'm fortunate enough to join your team, you'd be getting a down-to-earth and hard working nurse that is able to connect with patients and your entire team in a collaborative manner."

Krista Wenz

Krista Wenz has been on thousands of interview panels hiring EMS professionals and firefighters for public and private agencies.

"A bit about me- I am an avid triathlete and have traveled to 10 countries in the last eight years to compete in various races. I am competitive and enjoy keeping fit to be a good role model for my family and patients. In between my training, I completed my nursing degree and graduated from UC Santa Barbara six years ago. After spending two years gaining experience in the ICU, I returned to college and received my Master's qualification in nursing so I could advance to a managerial position. Currently, I am focused on receiving my Doctorate Degree in Healthcare Administration, and I look forward to working in an administrative role with your organization."

Jaymie Payne

Jaymie Payne is passionate about talent acquistion and has nine years of experience in corporate and healthcare recruitment.

"I have been interested in healthcare since I was young. My mother worked as an Activities Director at a local nursing home, so I often got to go to work with her to spend time with the residents and help with activities and recreation. Through my experiences there with her, I realized that I enjoyed working with the elderly, and when I was in high school, I became a nursing assistant and worked at that same nursing home part-time. After graduation, I continued my nursing program and am excited to start my career. On a personal note, I am the oldest child of five girls! I enjoy spending time with my family, and we often spend time outdoors hiking or kayaking together. I love animals and have two Boston terriers!"

Tell me a bit about yourself.

50Nursing Interview Questions & Answers

1.What motivates you to provide top-of-the-line nursing care?

2.How do you stay current on the latest health research?

3.Tell me about a time when you committed a medical error in your nursing career. How did you handle it?

4.How have you responded when your supervisor asked you to work an additional shift to fill vacancies?

5.How do you prioritize when multiple patients and procedures demand your attention at once?

6.Describe your typical relationship with physicians you work with.

7.Tell me about your education.

8.Tell me about a time in which you had to handle an irate physician, co-worker, or patient. How did you handle it and what were the results?

9.Are you specialized in a particular area of nursing, i.e. neo-natal, pediatric, geriatric, or women's health?

10.Describe a recent issue you had with a doctor or co-worker's decision. How did you handle it?

11.How do you make seamless transitions on shift changes?

12.Tell me about a time when you had to assist with an administrative project or task. What did the project/task entail and which software programs did you while completing the tasks?

13.How do you approach providing patient discharge instructions or patient education?

14.What precautions do you take with a patient in poor health?

15.Tell me about the greatest challenge you have faced in your nursing career? How did you overcome it?

16.Tell me about a time when you cared for a patient whose values or beliefs were different from your own. How did you handle the situation?

17.Tell me about your experience and abilities in collecting lab samples, such as blood, tissue, and and other specimens. Elaborate on the entire end-to-end process of collection.

18.What was your least favorite patient? What was the situation.

19.Tell me about your IV skills. Are you able to start an IV?

20.Why are you leaving your current position?

21.How many patients is a full workload for you?

22.Tell me about a time you had to communicate bad news to a patient. How did you effectively communicate that news and what was the outcome?

23.Tell me about the most stressful situation you've had to deal with in the workplace.

24.What is your work availability? Are you able to work nights? Weekends?

25.Talk about a time you had to communicate a complicated medical issue to a patient or their family. How did you go about relaying the message?

26.Tell me about an experience when you had to use ACLS, BLS, or PALS protocols in your nursing practice.

27.Talk about a time that you had to deal with a significant change in your work procedures or in your workplace. How did you handle that change?

28.We are interviewing several candidates for this position. Why should we hire you?

29.Do you have any questions about the specific requirements or responsibilities of the job?

30.Tell me about a time that you had to deal with an unexpected emergency on the job. How did you handle that situation?

31.Are you able to handle the physical requirement of the job?

32.Tell me about a time when you have recognized that a patient is in a difficult or dangerous situation. How did you respond and what was the outcome?

33.Tell me about your experience supervising or mentoring other nurses.

34.How do you approach the documentation of patient records? Do you have specific strategies that you use?

35.Have you ever been disciplined or asked to resign from a nursing position?

36.Can you tell us about what attracted you to a nursing position with our facility?

37.What did you like the best about your last position as a nurse?

38.Can you describe a career nursing role model and why?

39.What professional organizations do you belong to and which ones would you like to join in the future?

40.Do you carry professional liability insurance? Why or why not?

41.Which nursing publications do you subscribe to and which one is your favorite?

42.How much supervision do you want or need in your role as a new nurse in a new position?

43.What are your professional nursing goals?

44.What are your goals in reference to furthering your education?

45.Do you have plans to pursue certification in your chosen field?

46.Do you have nursing management or leadership goals?

47.How much orientation time do you feel is reasonable?

48.How will you promote a culture of teamwork and collaboration?

49.Tell me a bit about yourself.

50.What are your greatest weaknesses?