Top Travel Nursing Interview Tips & Questions

At Advantis Medical, we are not just a travel nursing agency; we are your gateway to advancing your career with top-notch healthcare staffing solutions. As part of our commitment to your success, we offer expert guidance on navigating the most challenging travel nurse interview questions, ensuring you're fully prepared to impress potential employers. From understanding what motivates you to assessing your ability to handle critical care scenarios, our comprehensive support covers all the bases.

Here are some top nursing interview tips and questions to prepare you for your interview:

Travel Nursing Interview Question Themes

According to Nurse.org - a renowned nursing education platform - Most nursing interviews encompass behavioral questions. They are based around the following themes:

• Teamwork
• Patient-care
• Adaptability
• Time management
• Communication style
• Motivation and core value

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Below are 2 top travel nursing interview questions that are typically asked under each theme. We advise nurses to provide real-life stories and examples to support their experience.

Teamwork

‍1. Talk about a conflict within your healthcare team.

What was the conflict and how did you handle it?

Explain the conflict surrounding the situation.

Who was involved? What was your role?

Did anything positive come from this? What did you learn?

2. Describe a time when you were particularly proud of your healthcare team?

What was your role in this situation?

Describe the circumstances and actions step-by-step.

What happened to make you feel proud?

What was your role? Who was involved?

What was the result?

Patient-care

1. Talk about a time a patient or their family were particularly pleased and appreciative of your care.

Tell a story about a family who was happy with your care.

What did you do in particular that they were pleased with?

How did you know they were happy?

What were the results of this situation?

2. Give an example of a time you had to interact with a hostile patient.

How did you handle the situation and what was the outcome?

Tell a story about a hostile patient and your step-by-step actions.

What was the patient doing that was hostile? How did you react? How did you feel?

What procedures did you follow to interact with the patient?

What was the result of your actions?

Adaptability

1. Tell me about a time when you didn’t know the answer to something at work?

How did you go about finding the information?

Tell a story about a time when you did not know the answer.

Explain step-by-step the action you took to find the information.

Talk about the result of your actions.

2. Describe a time when you anticipated potential problems with a patient and initiated preventative measures.

Share a specific story about a patient.

Explain how you assessed the pending problems.

Describe step-by-step the actions you took to prevent the problem.

What was the result of your actions?

Time Management

1. Talk about a time you worked in a fast-paced setting.

How do you prioritize tasks while maintaining excellent patient care?

Give an example of a time you had to prioritize your tasks quickly.

Explain your thought process in detail and why you chose to complete the duties in such an order.

2. Talk about a time when you felt overwhelmed with your work or patient-load.

What did you do?

Give a specific example of a time you were overwhelmed.

Explain step-by-step the actions you took to overcome this feeling and to focus on the task at hand.

Communication Style

1. Talk about a time when you had not communicated well.

How did you correct the situation? No one is perfect, we all have flaws.

Discuss a time when you experienced miscommunication at work.

What were the circumstances? How did you know you did not communicate well?

What did you learn?

What were the results?

2. Describe a time when you were the resident medical expert.

What did you do to make sure everyone was able to understand you?

Tell a story about a time when others were relying on your medical expertise.

Talk about the specific circumstances and words you used to ensure that they understood the language.

What did you talk about? What was the result?

Motivation and Core Value

1. Talk about a challenging situation or problem where you took the lead to correct it instead of waiting for someone else to do it.

Talk about a time when you decided to take the initiative to complete a task or make an important decision.

What was your motivator?

What action steps did you take? What were the results of your actions?

2. What do you find most difficult about being a Nurse?

How do you overcome this difficulty?

Be honest and talk about the most difficult component of nursing.

Maybe it’s working with a specific patient population. Or, acting in a leadership role.

Whatever it is to you, always make sure to talk about the steps and actions you’ve taken to cope with the difficulty.

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Knowing the top nursing interview tips and questions can be a great asset to prep for your nursing interview. Travel nursing allows nurses to explore new cities, gain experience in new care settings and hospitals, and typically pays more than staff nursing jobs. If you need help deciding on a travel nursing agency, learn how to choose the best agency for you here.