PICU Nurse Mock Interview

Master 39 PICU Nurse interview questions covering critical care scenarios, family communication, and pediatric emergencies.

Question 37 of 39

What are your weaknesses?

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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.

Stepping into the pediatric intensive care setting is certainly a difficult and challenging one. No matter what breadth of experience a candidate brings, your interviewer knows that any of their final candidates will have their own unique set of weaknesses and they hope to get an honest assessment from you in asking this question. First and foremost, make sure to put some thought into this question prior to your interview so you can come ready and willing to talk about how you plan on attacking your shortcomings from day one on the job. No matter what you decide to discuss, make sure that it isn't an automatic disqualifier for the role as a PICU nurse.

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.

"Something I've been working on recently is summarizing my patient charting more effectively and efficiently. I tend to get a bit too wordy in charting patient notes and of course, this takes up precious time. I know that PICU nurses are relied upon to document patient notes and the administration of medications and vitals in the EHR quickly and accurately to ensure that physicians, fellow nurses, and other care staff are apprised on the newest details. I'm very happy that I have familiarity working in your EHR system and would want to spend some time during my orientation shadowing other nurses and seeing just how they handle patient documentation notes."

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39PICU Nurse Interview Questions & Answers

Technical

1.Do you have any hands-on experience in hemodynamic monitoring that you would bring to our pediatric ICU?

Discovery

2.What appeals to you in working as a PICU nurse and do you see this as a long-term career fit for you?

Scenario

3.As a PICU nurse with our organization, how would you handle a situation where a colleague calls you to ask you to document some patient notes that they had forgotten during their shift?

Behavioral

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

Situational

5.What are some action steps you could take to alleviate stress for a patient's family in our PICU?

Scenario

6.If you were talking with a patient's parents during rounds and they told you they didn't understand the treatment plan that the physician told them, how would you respond in that situation?

Scenario

7.You are nearing the end of your 12-hour shift in our PICU and you are exhausted from caring for eight, high-acuity patients. As your colleague arrives to relieve you, tell me how you proceed.

Scenario

8.You just finished preparing IV medications for a patient, and you thoroughly washed your hands before doing so. As you enter the patient's room with the medication, describe the first thing you do to prevent patient infection.

Situational

9.How have you typically responded to an emergency situations during your career as a registered nurse?

Discovery

10.Talk about your experience working among a diverse team. How did you thrive in that environment?

Discovery

11. What personality traits do you have that you feel would make you a great PICU nurse?

Discovery

12.What do you feel is the biggest challenge you would face in joining our team as a PICU nurse?

Behavioral

13.As you may be aware, staff in the pediatric critical care setting have been historically known to experience "burn out" on the job. Why do you feel you will be able to handle the mental, physical, and emotional stress this job can bring?

Discovery

14.What would you say is the greatest strength you would bring to our team as a PICU nurse?

Situational

15.What do you do to help keep yourself from becoming overwhelmed on the job when you have multiple patients or competing priorities?

Situational

16.Talk about a time you had to deal with an upset or sad patient or family member as an RN. How did you handle the situation?

Discovery

17.Talk about the proudest moment you have experienced as part of a larger healthcare team. What role did you play in that effort?

Discovery

18.What drew you to apply to our organization as a PICU nurse?

Discovery

19.What is your preferred role in working as part of a larger team as a registered nurse?

Discovery

20.What has driven you throughout your career to be the best nurse you can be? How will this help our PICU patients if we were to hire you?

Discovery

21.How have you gone about prioritizing your work in your current role when multiple patients and/or procedures demand your attention at once?

Behavioral

22.Describe your typical relationship with the physicians you work with. What would your ideal physician relationships look like for you in our PICU?

Scenario

23.Talk about a time when you had to handle an irate patient or their family member on the job as an RN. How did you handle that situation and what were the results?

Behavioral

24.Have you ever had an issue or disagreement with a physician or colleague's decision? How did you handle it?

Education

25.What patient education skills would you bring to our team as a registered nurse?

Technical

26.Talk about the IV skills that you would you bring to our PICU nursing team. Will you be comfortable working on pediatric patients with this skill?

Situational

27.Tell me about a time you had to communicate bad news to a patient or family member. How did you effectively communicate that news?

Situational

28.Talk about the most stressful situation you've had to deal with in the workplace. What did you learn from that situation that you can bring to our team as a PICU nurse?

Discovery

29.What is your overall availability to work varying shifts as a new nurse in our PICU unit?

Discovery

30.How do you feel you've handled significant changes in your work as a nurse throughout your career?

Discovery

31.What makes you the ideal candidate to become our next PICU nurse?

Operational

32.Are you able to handle the physical requirements of working in our pediatric ICU?

Operational

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

Education

34.What professional nursing organizations do you belong to, and are there any you would look to join as a PICU nurse?

Discovery

35.How much supervision do you feel you would need in your initial months on the job as a PICU nurse at our institution?

Discovery

36.Tell us about yourself.

Discovery

37.What are your weaknesses?

Compatibility

38.Why should we hire you?

Discovery

PICU Nurse Mock Interview

What are your weaknesses?

39PICU Nurse Interview Questions & Answers

1.Do you have any hands-on experience in hemodynamic monitoring that you would bring to our pediatric ICU?

2.What appeals to you in working as a PICU nurse and do you see this as a long-term career fit for you?

3.As a PICU nurse with our organization, how would you handle a situation where a colleague calls you to ask you to document some patient notes that they had forgotten during their shift?

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

5.What are some action steps you could take to alleviate stress for a patient's family in our PICU?

6.If you were talking with a patient's parents during rounds and they told you they didn't understand the treatment plan that the physician told them, how would you respond in that situation?

7.You are nearing the end of your 12-hour shift in our PICU and you are exhausted from caring for eight, high-acuity patients. As your colleague arrives to relieve you, tell me how you proceed.

8.You just finished preparing IV medications for a patient, and you thoroughly washed your hands before doing so. As you enter the patient's room with the medication, describe the first thing you do to prevent patient infection.

9.How have you typically responded to an emergency situations during your career as a registered nurse?

10.Talk about your experience working among a diverse team. How did you thrive in that environment?

11. What personality traits do you have that you feel would make you a great PICU nurse?

12.What do you feel is the biggest challenge you would face in joining our team as a PICU nurse?

13.As you may be aware, staff in the pediatric critical care setting have been historically known to experience "burn out" on the job. Why do you feel you will be able to handle the mental, physical, and emotional stress this job can bring?

14.What would you say is the greatest strength you would bring to our team as a PICU nurse?

15.What do you do to help keep yourself from becoming overwhelmed on the job when you have multiple patients or competing priorities?

16.Talk about a time you had to deal with an upset or sad patient or family member as an RN. How did you handle the situation?

17.Talk about the proudest moment you have experienced as part of a larger healthcare team. What role did you play in that effort?

18.What drew you to apply to our organization as a PICU nurse?

19.What is your preferred role in working as part of a larger team as a registered nurse?

20.What has driven you throughout your career to be the best nurse you can be? How will this help our PICU patients if we were to hire you?

21.How have you gone about prioritizing your work in your current role when multiple patients and/or procedures demand your attention at once?

22.Describe your typical relationship with the physicians you work with. What would your ideal physician relationships look like for you in our PICU?

23.Talk about a time when you had to handle an irate patient or their family member on the job as an RN. How did you handle that situation and what were the results?

24.Have you ever had an issue or disagreement with a physician or colleague's decision? How did you handle it?

25.What patient education skills would you bring to our team as a registered nurse?

26.Talk about the IV skills that you would you bring to our PICU nursing team. Will you be comfortable working on pediatric patients with this skill?

27.Tell me about a time you had to communicate bad news to a patient or family member. How did you effectively communicate that news?

28.Talk about the most stressful situation you've had to deal with in the workplace. What did you learn from that situation that you can bring to our team as a PICU nurse?

29.What is your overall availability to work varying shifts as a new nurse in our PICU unit?

30.How do you feel you've handled significant changes in your work as a nurse throughout your career?

31.What makes you the ideal candidate to become our next PICU nurse?

32.Are you able to handle the physical requirements of working in our pediatric ICU?

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

34.What professional nursing organizations do you belong to, and are there any you would look to join as a PICU nurse?

35.How much supervision do you feel you would need in your initial months on the job as a PICU nurse at our institution?

36.Tell us about yourself.

37.What are your weaknesses?

38.Why should we hire you?

39.Why do you want a career as a PICU nurse?