How to Get Through Your Nursing Interview

Job interviews are always a nerve-wracking experience. You want to make sure you can show the hiring manager how you would make the best fit for the job you are applying for. When it comes to nursing, you want to highlight your nursing skills and how you can help make a positive impact to the lives of your patients. Here are a few common nursing interview questions below and how to address them. This is a commonly asked question during interviews, and this is your chance to describe your passion for the career you chose. You want to make sure you showcase what nursing means to you and how you as a nurse can make a positive impact on your patient’s lives.

Allow your answer to come from the heart by including personal reasons that made you choose nursing such as a family nursing role model or a personal life experience that influenced you. You need to show the hiring manager that the career you chose is more than just a paycheck to you.How would you handle a crisis at work? As a nurse, you will be facing many challenges. This comes especially to nurses who work in the ER Department. You need to show the hiring manager how well you can handle pressure.

Think of your past jobs where you have faced a crisis and use that as your example of how well you were able to resolve the issues you faced. You want to show them your strategic thinking skills as well as how proactive you are and how calm you can remain during a crisis. How well do you work with other nurses, doctors, and staff? Teamwork is an important skill in any job but is an even more vital skill to have in the nursing field. This is your chance to showcase how well you can work with others around you, while assuring the best outcome for your patient.

Give them specific examples of previous nursing jobs or trainings where you collaborated with other health care professionals to help solve a problem you may have faced with a patient. Show them how you worked as a team to find the best possible treatments for the patient and how it resulted in the patient’s condition improving. How well do you handle workplace stress? Nursing is no doubt, a stressful job to have. You need to show your hiring manager how well you can maintain a calm in hectic environments. Showcase personal experiences you have had in a previous workplace where you found yourself feeling stress. Explain how you were able to push through this experience how you have learned from it. Good Luck!

Do not let your fears get in the way of your goals. When preparing for your interview, make sure to have real life experiences ready to share with the hiring manager. Be true to who you are and showcase your best nursing skills that will help place you on top. Do not forget to take a deep breath and strike your best smile.

Our White Glove Nurses and respiratory therapists are our frontliners dealing with all the stress of COVID-19 and we are so thankful to them for all they are doing to help save lives in our community. With that being said, we want to make sure they are finding ways to stay healthy so here are some tips to help get you by.

Wash Your Hands!

As repetitive as you may have heard it, washing your hands often is your first step in staying healthy. Make sure to always wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds especially after treating each patient, being out in the public, or after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.

If you are not able to wash with soap and water, use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol as per recommended by the CDC. As always, avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth especially when you have not washed your hands.

Take care of your Immune System

Make sure you are taking care of your immune system by eating well balanced meals, taking multivitamins, and avoid consuming too much sugar. Include more citrus fruits into your diet that are packed with Vitamin C.
Consider swapping your cup of coffee with a cup of green tea instead, which are filled with antioxidants that contain immune-boosting effects. Also include more foods with Vitamin D such as fatty fish like tuna, mackerel, and salmon.

Clean and Disinfect Often!

Make sure you are cleaning your most frequently touched surfaces daily. This includes your tables, doorknobs, countertops, handles, desks, phones, keyboards, toilets, faucets, sinks, and light switches.

Consider changing out of your work clothes before entering your home and washing them separately from the rest of your laundry especially if you are living with your family. Leave your shoes on the doorstep or in one area in the front of the home to avoid spreading the germs to other areas.

Manage your Stress Levels

We understand this is easier said than done but it is important to note that managing your stress levels is very much needed to help keep you healthy. This includes getting plenty of rest on your days off, while also making time for exercise to help keep your body strong. Go for a nice walk or run (while maintaining social distancing) or even try some home workout videos.

Avoid watching the news and instead try out meditation and yoga to help calm your mind. Utilize the many apps offering free meditation services for healthcare workers.

Stay in touch with Family and Friends

During times like this, it is good to have a strong support system. Keep in touch with your family and friends. Although we cannot visit our loved ones right now, we have better technology that allows us to virtually see them. Why not host a virtual dance off with them? Either way, lean on them for support because they care about you more than you know.

Do things that make YOU happy!

Even though work can be draining, it is important for you to switch off work mode on your days off. Take a break from social media and just have some much deserved ME time. Cook your favorite meals, enjoy your favorite movie or shows, read a book, or work on your favorite hobby. Whatever it is that brings you happiness, make sure to let yourself have that joy.

We cannot say thank you enough for all your hard work and dedication to your job. You really are our real-life superheroes saving our city one patient at a time. We want you to be healthy, stay safe, and stay positive. Always remember to breathe and that we are here for you. We are in this together!

Sources:

https://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/benefits-vitamin-d

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/how-to-boost-immune-health

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/prevention.html

The Importance of Social Distancing

If you have been paying attention to the news, we can already understand how serious this pandemic is and how important it is for us to do our part as a community to help flatten the curve. Right now, our healthcare workers and other essential workers are on the frontline serving our community so let’s allow them to do their job by making sure we stay home. The more steps we take at social distancing, the more we can let our healthcare workers do their part in saving lives.

As hard as it is to stay away from our friends and family let’s remember that this virus is spread from person-to-person and that anyone at any age can contract this virus. According to the CDC, people are the most contagious when they are the most symptomatic however some spread can occur with people who are showing no symptoms at all.

As mentioned by the CDC, the virus can spread between people who are in close contact with one another, which is within 6 feet. This can occur through respiratory droplets that are produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes. The virus can also be spread by touching a contaminated surface or object.

The best thing for us to do as a society is to stay home and avoid gathering in large groups or crowds. When going out for essential needs such as groceries, doing laundry, or getting medicine practice social distancing by staying 6 feet away from people.

If you must feel the need to go out, why not help those who need your help by donating supplies such as gloves and masks to your local hospitals, police departments, and fire departments? Help those who are most vulnerable like those with underlying medical conditions or the elderly by offering to buy their groceries for them and dropping it at their doorstep. You can also consider volunteering at your local food bank.

We will get through this together but for now let’s be there for each other by staying 6 feet apart and staying safe at home. Let’s also remember to thank all our healthcare workers, police officers, grocery workers, truck drivers, and other essential workers who are helping us get the care and things we need. So take care of yourselves, stay home, and remember to wash your hands! We wish you well always.