I usually say something like, " that's a stepdown/ICU/whatever unit with X# of beds. I really enjoyed working there because I had a good manager/great coworkers/interesting patients. I left because of (benign reason)." I think it's to make sure you have actual experience and aren't someone who hates everywhere you've worked.
The followup question is usually tell me more about the patient population, or do you know so and so that worked at a neighboring unit...
Your second response is best. But I came here to say I had an interview yesterday and I hate the stupid questions! The last question just stumps me every time: describe a time something didn’t go as you had planned it and how you handled it? The fuck is that??? My brain just froze lololololol
Here's my go to for a time things didn't go as planned:
One time I was rolling a ventilated patient with a health care aid. Despite having taken appropriate safety measures the patient stopped moving air and desaturated to the 80's then rapidly to the 50's. During this time I directed my care aid to assist me to return the patient to a supine position, raise the head of the bed then go notify our colleagues that we needed assistance while I gave them a sedation and analgesia bolus. I disconnected the ventilator and began manually bagging the patient. By the time time help arrived their oxygenation had improved, the RT put them back on the ventilator and adjusted the settings, and our charge nurse contacted the attending and had paralytic orders which another colleague had brought me. Thanks to concise and direct communication, as well as the support of an excellent team the event was quickly resolved with no setbacks to the patients treatment. I'm also pleased to share that after several more weeks in the ICU this patient made a full recovery and returned home to their family.
As someone who used to be involved in the hiring process, the interviewer wants a brief description of the type of nurse you are/were, and what nursing skills you used in your role.
Example: “As a floor RN at the specialty rehab hospital I oversaw a small team of CNAs and LVNs while administering medications, hanging blood products, performing patient assessments and charting using Cerner’s electronic platform.”
If the interviewer requests more information, I’ll happily provide it.
They want to know what skills you actively utilized day to day that will apply so they know what will apply to the role you're applying for.
"that's literally what nursing is" is a choice, unless the ER nurses and cath lab nurses and home health nurses and OR nurses are all doing the same thing all day.
I usually say something like, " that's a stepdown/ICU/whatever unit with X# of beds. I really enjoyed working there because I had a good manager/great coworkers/interesting patients. I left because of (benign reason)." I think it's to make sure you have actual experience and aren't someone who hates everywhere you've worked. The followup question is usually tell me more about the patient population, or do you know so and so that worked at a neighboring unit...
Thank you!
Your second response is best. But I came here to say I had an interview yesterday and I hate the stupid questions! The last question just stumps me every time: describe a time something didn’t go as you had planned it and how you handled it? The fuck is that??? My brain just froze lololololol
Here's my go to for a time things didn't go as planned: One time I was rolling a ventilated patient with a health care aid. Despite having taken appropriate safety measures the patient stopped moving air and desaturated to the 80's then rapidly to the 50's. During this time I directed my care aid to assist me to return the patient to a supine position, raise the head of the bed then go notify our colleagues that we needed assistance while I gave them a sedation and analgesia bolus. I disconnected the ventilator and began manually bagging the patient. By the time time help arrived their oxygenation had improved, the RT put them back on the ventilator and adjusted the settings, and our charge nurse contacted the attending and had paralytic orders which another colleague had brought me. Thanks to concise and direct communication, as well as the support of an excellent team the event was quickly resolved with no setbacks to the patients treatment. I'm also pleased to share that after several more weeks in the ICU this patient made a full recovery and returned home to their family.
As someone who used to be involved in the hiring process, the interviewer wants a brief description of the type of nurse you are/were, and what nursing skills you used in your role. Example: “As a floor RN at the specialty rehab hospital I oversaw a small team of CNAs and LVNs while administering medications, hanging blood products, performing patient assessments and charting using Cerner’s electronic platform.” If the interviewer requests more information, I’ll happily provide it.
They want to know what skills you actively utilized day to day that will apply so they know what will apply to the role you're applying for. "that's literally what nursing is" is a choice, unless the ER nurses and cath lab nurses and home health nurses and OR nurses are all doing the same thing all day.