UCI MEPN 2020 Interview Practice

"What do you find rewarding about this job?"

2-3min answer MAX

"Why did you decide on a career as a nurse?"

2-3min answer MAX

What are your core values?

A tough question to answer, mostly becasue we often can not even tell what our values are-though each of us has some values, and acts accordingly. Love, hope, health, faith, empathy, compassion, movement-they will all resonate nicely with the members of the admission committee...

What do you have to offer to our nursing school

Check their mission statement and see how you can add to that.

TELL ME A TIME...

For any behavioral question, I'd recommend using the DIGSTM format. The DIGS format has four different components: Dramatize the situation Indicate the alternatives Go over what you did Summarize the results

Among all the other applicants, what makes you Unique to be admitted.

Give specific experiences you may have had that can stand out

Are you comfortable working with other

I find I work well under a variety of conditions and circumstances and I take pride in my flexibility. I really enjoy working in a team because I often find that different viewpoints can help me find solutions to a problem I might not think of on my own. I also enjoy self-motivating and am equally comfortable working alone

"Would you say you're a team player?"

I find I work well under a variety of conditions and circumstances and I take pride in my flexibility. I really enjoy working in a team because I often find that different viewpoints can help me find solutions to a problem I might not think of on my own. I also enjoy self-motivating and am equally comfortable working alone.

"Why are you leaving your current position (changing major)?"

While my last job was an opportunity for me to learn and grow at a comfortable pace in a smaller clinical environment, I'm looking for new challenges and opportunities to continue to expand my knowledge in a larger, hospital based environment. I am eager to try new things and learn skill-sets that come from working in a faster paced environment like this one here.

Describe a time you had to deal with a difficult patient and how you handled that.

Working with elderly patients always presents unique challenges as you're dealing with people who are used to being independent and who are now totally reliant on strangers. I remember one gentleman who had a reputation for being extremely difficult. He was angry and argumentative and would often fight with the other nurses over things as little as the temperature of his room. I admit, I wasn't excited when I found I was going to be working with him, so to prepare, I looked over his charts. I discovered that his wife had died a number of years ago and that he had no friends or family in the area and hadn't had a visitor in ages. Rather than treating him just as a patient, I did my best to connect with him as a human. I would talk to him, not just at him. It took a little, but eventually he came around and ended up being one of my favorite people to visit with every day.

How you deal with someone who isn't satisfied with your patient care?

Nobody likes not feeling well, and it's easy to have those feeling manifest as frustration and anger. While I constantly strive to do everything I can for a patient, there are times when even that isn't good enough and someone takes issue with my care. I had a situation like that once with a patient who complained to my supervisor about me, telling them I was denying them specific care for an issue. The first thing I have to do in that situation is to step back and really assess what's going on. Are they upset because of something I'm doing or not doing? Is it something I can correct or should correct? I spoke with my supervisor and told her that I was following strict doctor's orders. We spoke with the attending physician about the situation and she agreed to come with me to speak to the patient. It turns out that the patient had misunderstood something the doctor had told her, leading her to assume I was neglecting a step in her care process. Once the confusion was cleared up, we were able to work with the patient to come up with a satisfactory solution. I work hard to ensure that I answer patient's questions and when I can't, I try to find the people who can. Sometimes, even with all that, you find people who aren't happy with what you're doing. In those situations, I do my best to accommodate them without compromising their care. If it's a situation where I really can't fix the problem, then I work with the other nurses and doctors on my team to find an alternative solution.

Tell me about yourself

Remember that they're not asking you for your life story. An interviewer is asking you this question to find out from you what you think is important and how well that matches up with what they're looking for. Remember that list of qualifications and qualities you made earlier when going over the job posting? To me, there's nothing more satisfying than helping people out when they need it the most.