How do you reflect after dealing with a difficult and challenging patient situation?

"I really like to go back and review with myself and the team what happened and ways to be better in any situation that doesn't go as planned. I think it's important to distance myself a little bit from the emotions and try to review the situation logically. I think that when emotions run high, intelligence can run low, and we need to talk about situations and responses without blame. Blame isn't helpful and impedes learning. As a PICU nurse on your unit, I know that I will be facing some of the most difficult situations that any nurse can handle and I'm ready for that challenge. I want you to be assured that I would take any difficult situation and learn from it moving forward."

During your future career as a PICU nurse, you will no doubt be put in situations where young patients receive life-threatening diagnoses, go into cardiac arrest, or even die. It's human nature to rationalize or justify and not face the difficult feelings or emotions of a situation gone bad, but this reflection is extremely important so that you know you are doing all that you can do to help in the situation. Talk to the interviewer about your ability to reflect on a situation and learn from it moving forward. If you have an example of a time you have done this during your career, don't hesitate to talk openly and honestly about the situation and what you learned.