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Nursing Mock Interview

Question 5 of 50 for our Nursing Mock Interview

Nursing was updated by on January 18th, 2023. Learn more here.

Question 5 of 50

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

"While not experiencing this type of patient directly during my clinical experiences during nursing school, I did encounter a few angry customers during my time working as a waiter through college. One particular customer became upset that I had brought him a different soda than he ordered. Where most customers would have simply asked nicely, he loudly proclaimed to the entire establishment that I was a poor waiter that couldn't get an order right. Knowing that his anger obviously stemmed from much more than a wrong soda, I simply apologized and returned with the correct order for him. My boss said I handled the situation properly and made sure that I put his meal on the house's tab for the day."

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How to Answer: What was your least favorite patient? What was the situation.

Advice and answer examples written specifically for a Nursing job interview.

  • 5. What was your least favorite patient? What was the situation.

      How to Answer

      Any experienced nurse has had to deal with a patient that was unruly, untruthful or just downright mean. For this question, be sure to provide a specific time where you had to handle a patient like this, how you handled the situation and what the final outcome was. The interviewer is looking for you to stay calm, cool and collected despite wanting to fight back.

      Written by Elisabeth Walter

      1st Entry Level Example

      "While not experiencing this type of patient directly during my clinical experiences during nursing school, I did encounter a few angry customers during my time working as a waiter through college. One particular customer became upset that I had brought him a different soda than he ordered. Where most customers would have simply asked nicely, he loudly proclaimed to the entire establishment that I was a poor waiter that couldn't get an order right. Knowing that his anger obviously stemmed from much more than a wrong soda, I simply apologized and returned with the correct order for him. My boss said I handled the situation properly and made sure that I put his meal on the house's tab for the day."

      Written by Ryan Brunner

      1st Experienced Example

      "I had an elderly patient who was struggling to maintain their independence, but suffering from dementia while recovering from a broken hip. They were resistant at times when they needed to take medicine, so I learned how to talk to them and involve their family member in order to encourage them to do the things they needed for care."

      Written by Elisabeth Walter

      2nd Experienced Example

      "During my time as a family practice nurse, I had seen several patients that were abusing prescription pain pills. One patient, in particular, became very upset with me when the physician would not prescribe more pain medication to the patient after I checked her medical record and realized that a pain specialist had just done so the week prior with a full month's prescription. Fearing that the patient may become violent, I brought another male nurse into the room and I calmly explained to her why more medication couldn't be prescribed. The conversation led to a discussion on abuse of pain medications and the dangers of the abuse. The patient left our clinic that day with educational brochures in hand about pain medicine abuse."

      Written by Ryan Brunner

      3rd Experienced Example

      "To date, most of my experience has been working in outpatient family practice clinics, and the most frustrating patients for me are the ones who have no clinical experience or scientific education but question every recommendation the clinicians make because of 'research' they have conducted on the internet. I understand that everyone's opinions are valid and all patients are allowed to ask questions, but the patients who think they know more than the doctors I work with because of a blog they have read on the internet are very frustrating to me. Last flu season, when the virus was at epidemic levels, I had a patient who not only refused the vaccine but was telling me the vaccine caused the flu. I know this is clinically and scientifically impossible, but rather than becoming combative with her, I calmly presented her with the facts and allowed her to make her own decision, which ultimately was to deny herself the vaccine, but I did what I could."

      Written by Kelly Burlison on March 17th, 2019

      4th Experienced Example

      "I once was caring for a young adult patient who was admitted due to a sickle cell crisis. When the patient asked for another dose of pain medication, I had to inform him that at that time I could not give him any because it was too early according to the current orders. I tried then to ask questions about the pain to gather more information and determine if perhaps I needed to contact the physician for new orders. The patient became very angry at me for not giving him pain medication when he asked and proceeded to yell at me. It was very frustrating, but I remained calm and didn't take his actions or words personally. I explained to him why I was asking the questions about his pain and would be happy to call the physician with an update and see if there were any other pain treatment options available. It took awhile, but I was finally able to gather information from the patient and contact the physician to discuss new potential orders."

      Written by Tabitha Cumpian on January 31st, 2023

      Anonymous Interview Answers with Professional Feedback

      Anonymous Answer

      "During my time as an ED nurse, I had seen several patients that were shouting with alcohol heavy drinking. It bothers me so much. Sometimes we don't know the patient nothing have medical problems or not. I have one patient, in particular, became very upset with me when the physician would not prescribe any pain medication. He said he had so much pain in his back at that time, but he's walking well we couldn't find any problems. He's a famous man with our ED. He's come by seeing ED nurses almost weekly with minor problems and alcoholic always."

      Kristine's Feedback

      Great start! You described the situation with your least favorite patient well. I reworded for clarity. Now, show how you handled the case and the final outcome. Were you calm and reassuring? Did you show compassion? Did you help diffuse the situation?
      "During my time as an Emergency Department or ED nurse, I had several patients who were in alcohol withdrawal and were shouting and demanding pain medication. In these unnerving situations, I had to do my best to assist the physician in finding out if the patient really had medical problems. I remember one patient who said he had a lot of pain in his back, but he was walking well, and we couldn't find any evidence of back injuries or trauma so the physician would not prescribe pain medication. The patient became very upset with me. I found out that this man was well known in the ED because he would be in the emergency room nearly weekly with minor problems and always demanded pain medication."
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    About the Author

    Jaymie Payne

    I began my healthcare career when I was a sophomore in high school and became an STNA (state-tested nursing assistant) at a local long-term care facility. I then went on to work as a nursing assistant at a local hospital and home healthcare agency. During that time, I pursued my Bachelor's in Business Administration: Human Resource Management and transitioned to working for one of the largest long-term care and post-acute rehab companies in the country. I supported the talent acquisition function, and in the span of 8 years, I screened and interviewed over 1,500 nurse aides, LPNs, and RNs.

    I hold a very special place in my heart for nurses, as it's often a thankless and tiresome job. Not everyone is cut out to be a nurse, and I have great respect and admiration for those that choose this career path. As a content writer and interview coach for MockQuestions, my goal is to help you prepare and succeed in your upcoming interview. This article offers interview tips and advice along with 50 practice interview questions and answer examples to help you better understand what to expect and prepare for interview day! Wishing you the best of luck!

    Learn more about Jaymie Payne