As a recruiter for a nurse staffing agency, providing hospitals and doctor’s offices with the best nurses possible is what your job is obviously all about. Weaving out candidates can be hard because nurses all possess different personal qualities, unique experiences, and have obtained different specialties and goals throughout their careers. Whether you’re interviewing a nurse who just graduated or a nurse who has been in the medical industry for years, asking the right questions makes it easier to place them accurately with the right job that benefits the nurse and the facility.
Finding a nurse who is flexible, professional, dedicated, has the knowledge necessary to complete the job and will be a good fit for a position are top qualities a recruiter for nurses needs to assess. You probably have a set list of interview questions for nurses, but these eight questions to ask can make your job a lot easier. Here are some of the best interview questions for nurse staffing recruiters!
8 Best Interview Questions for Nurse Staffing Recruiters
1. Why do you want this job?
This seems like an obvious question for a recruiter to ask, but this addresses where a nurse is in their career. For example, if the nurse is a new RN they might talk about their education and what led them to become a nurse. Starting broad is a great way to start an interview and get the conversation flowing.
2. What makes you a good nurse?
This question gives the nurse you’re interviewing an opportunity to show their thought process and if they feel following correct procedures is what makes them a good nurse, or if there is more to the job. For example, this can be a time for the interviewee to give a specific example in which they have had excellent relationships with patients, what values they hold, as well as how well they follow protocol. This is one of the best interview questions for nurse staffing recruiters to ask because it allows the prospective employee to bring their believed strengths to the forefront of the conversation.
3. Why did you choose this specialty?
When you’re interviewing nurses as a recruiter, you want to know where their passion stems from. This question allows the candidate to show why they care about a specific topic.
4. How have you dealt with conflict? Can you give me a specific example?
This is the type of question to ask a nurse that scratches the surface of a bigger overall issue. There are conflicts in all jobs, however, some of the issues as a caregiver to a person have larger consequences if conflicts aren’t solved. A question like this can open the door for you to ask more specific questions such as, “What would you do if a physician questions the accuracy of your work?” or “What would you do if you witnessed a nurse administer the incorrect drug?”
5. What do you specifically do to create an experience for the patient that is as pleasant as possible?
As the core of every health care facility, the patient should be a focus of plenty of interview questions to ask nurses. A nurse can have a wonderful bedside manner that cannot be outlined in a resume, so having the candidate articulate what they actually do for a patient on a personal level is a great opportunity for them to be open and honest as you get to know them.
6. What is an estimated number of patients you’re comfortable having at a time?
This will help you know where to place a nurse. It’s common in a hospital for a nurse to call off because of illness or another personal reason, and having another nurse be able to pick up extra patients comfortably is important. You will know if a candidate is a good fit for a particular hospital/health care facility position based on this question.
7. What is the hardest part of being a nurse? How do you overcome this?
Nursing is a difficult job and those hardships affect a nurse’s personal life as well. This will show you as the recruiter whether a candidate is more affected by the challenges on a personal level or as a professional. It’s important to recognize an interviewee’s honesty, but you’ll know how selfless they are by how they answer a question like this.
8. What types of technology are you experienced with and trained to use?
There are many new innovations and devices used in different medical facilities and knowing if a nurse is capable of using them is useful because you will be able to evaluate if extra training will be necessary for a particular job or if the candidate can help train other nurses to use a specific piece of equipment. This is considered one of the best interview questions for nurse staffing recruiters to ask because it allows the recruiter to gauge the nurses’ comfort level with technology, something that has become overwhelmingly important in the nursing wold.
Now that you have some specific questions to add to your list of interview questions (if they aren’t already on there), you might want to remember a few general tips for successful interviewing.
More Tips for Nurse Staffing Interviews
Know what you’re looking for.
Before you start the interview, create a list or description of the ideal candidate, and then you’ll know what to look for in a nurse when you’re conducting the interview.
Let the interviewee do most of the talking.
This will allow you to assess the communication style of a particular nurse and you can evaluate if that would be a good style for a particular job or type of patient care. To keep them talking, ask to follow up questions such as “How did you go about that?” or “Why did you decide to take that approach?”
Take detailed notes.
You might think you’re absorbing everything an interviewee is saying, but we know recruiters have a lot of responsibilities and sometimes you might catch yourself thinking of something else you have to do after the interview is complete. Taking notes of exactly how the candidate is acting and what their saying won’t force you to remember everything and it’ll even help you maintain focus.
Just like these interview questions can help recruiters find the best nurses, factoring can help you meet payroll. See if nursing staffing factoring can give your agency the flexibility it needs to grow.
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