5 Interview Questions Most Often Asked of Nurse Practitioners (With Example Answers and Tips)
When getting ready for an interview for a job as a nurse practitioner, it’s a good idea to look over some of the most common questions about the job. People who want to know more about your skills as a nurse practitioner will ask you a lot of the same questions. If you think about your answers ahead of time, you can go into an interview with confidence. This article gives examples of questions to ask a nurse practitioner and how to answer them.
Preparing to answer the most common questions asked of nurse practitioners in job interviews
As you prepare for an interview for a nurse practitioner job, it can be helpful to think about the kinds of questions the interviewer might ask and why they might ask them. Taking time to think about how you want to answer can help you say what you want to say about yourself, your skills, and your experience in a calm way.
It’s also important to prepare your professional materials and credentials before the interview. Update your resume, make it fit the job, and list your most important responsibilities and achievements. You will also have to show proof that you are certified in BCLS or CPR and have a license to work as a nurse.
You can also use the STAR method to answer questions in short, powerful ways. STAR stands for Situation, Task, Action, and Result. Tell me about a time when you had to do something that was related to the question. Next, tell what you did and what happened because of what you did.
Sample interview questions and how to answer them
Some of the most common questions asked at interviews to become a nurse practitioner are meant to help the interviewer learn more about your personality and how you act in different situations. With these questions, the interviewer can learn more about you and figure out how well you would fit into the team and organization.
- Why did you choose to become a nurse with advanced skills?
- What do you do when you’re feeling stressed?
- What do you think is the hardest part of being a nurse practitioner?
- What would you do if someone on your care team did something wrong?
- What do you add to the care someone else is getting?
1. Why did you choose to become a nurse practitioner?
When an interviewer asks you this, they want to know what motivates you to be successful in your career and how committed you are to your job. A nurse practitioner has a lot of responsibilities, so they need to love what they do.
“I chose to become a nurse practitioner because I care about how the people I can help are cared for and treated. I was really interested in nursing when I was in school, so I decided to get my license as a nurse practitioner. In this role, I can help patients even more and work as part of a care team that gives each patient individualized care.”
2. What do you do when you’re feeling overwhelmed?
Health care work is often stressful, so an interviewer will want to know how you handle stress on the job. Think about how you can write an answer that shows you can deal with stress, which is part of a nurse practitioner’s job.
“A little bit of pressure at work keeps me going and gets things done. Even though stress is a part of my job, I have worked to find better ways to deal with it. I think I’m good at giving work to other people, which can help keep things from getting too stressful because everyone is doing their part. I also deal with situations instead of stress, which helps me deal with each one better as it comes up.”
3.What is the hardest thing about being a nurse practitioner, in your opinion?
A nurse practitioner faces unique responsibilities and challenges. Because of this, nurse practitioners can get angry or stressed at work, which can also affect their personal lives. When you answer this question, it’s important to be honest about what you think is the hardest part of your job and how you deal with it.
“When a patient has a disease or illness that could kill them, it’s especially hard for me to help them. This situation is hard for me because it’s hard for me to deal with on an emotional level. I keep getting education and training that helps me deal with life-threatening illnesses and situations better and improves the health of my patients. I also do what I can to help people who are emotionally hurting.”
4. What would you do if you saw a member of your care team doing something wrong?
When it comes to health care, it’s especially important to act ethically because breaking the rules could have very bad results. You need to say how you’ll know if someone on your team is doing something wrong and what you’ll do about it. By asking you this question, the interviewer is also making sure that you care about the moral side of a career in health care.
“At my last job, a triage nurse on our team told the media about a famous patient’s illness and treatment plan without getting permission from the patient. This action had a direct effect on the privacy of that patient and on the reputation of our medical clinic. After talking to each member of the team privately to figure out who broke the patient’s privacy and HIPAA laws, the nurse who shared the private information was taken off direct care and the team.
5. What do you contribute to a patient’s care experience?
Since nurse practitioners work directly with patients, an interviewer will want to know what you think you can bring to each patient’s care. What the patient has been through will determine the outcome and whether the patient comes back for more treatment when needed. When thinking about how to answer this question, think about some of the unique ways you interact with your patients, like how you go above and beyond or meet their needs.
Example: “When I talk to a patient, the first thing I do is make sure I am speaking as clearly and effectively as I can. I take the time to answer my patients’ and their support people’s questions and quickly address their concerns, so they know they are being heard. When I talk to a patient, I try to put myself in their place so I can show more compassion and understanding.
Tips for an interview
If you want to work as a nurse practitioner, it can help to follow a few simple tips that will make you more likely to get the job.
Listen carefully to the questions.
When you know what the interviewer is asking, you are more likely to give a response that makes sense and shows what skills and abilities you have. If you don’t know how to answer a question, you can ask for more information.
Give helpful answers and information.
Keep a positive attitude in all of your answers.
Be honest in everything you say.
Also, try to answer questions in a simple way, without giving extra information that doesn’t always apply.
Consider what you want to learn.
In every interview, the person asking the questions will give you a chance to ask any questions you have about the job. Think about what questions you can ask to find out more about the role and the setting. You could ask about work-life balance, why the last person in the job left, opportunities for continuing education, and how well the staff works as a team, among other things.
Dress in clothes that are professional and conservative
Some examples are dress pants or a skirt, a blouse or button-down shirt, and dress shoes.
Don’t be in a hurry.
You’ll make a better first impression if you get there early and can find the place easily.
