Interview preparation for an acute care nursing practitioner position

¶ … Nurse Interview Preparation

The interview overview below was from an interactive session that was held between an interviewee who had masters in nursing and was looking for a chance to join the organization as an Acute Care Nursing Practitioner (ACNP). The candidate was cross-examined by a panel of four senior nurses who have served the hospital for at least 3 years each. The interview was structured such that each panelist had time to ask the questions that were in the interview schedule as well as any further clarifications as would be required by the individual panelist. The entire interview was basically divided into the following parts;

Reason for seeking graduate education

The candidate indicated that the decision to join the nursing profession was more inborn and a passion that he has always had since childhood when the grandmother died of sheer negligence at the critical time in her health. The passion was further fueled by the knowledge that there are fewer nurses enrolling each year and the country would hence soon run to a critical shortage of nurses. He saw that the graduate education was the best investment that he could have in knowledge and skills that would make him a proficient and qualified nurse.

Present position and role of the candidate

The present position of the candidate is specialist in old age diseases and taking care of the ill old people. He basically obtains the history of the old patients who are brought in from the relatives or the person who has brought the patient into the hospital. He also conducts physical examination of the patients to ascertain their medical conditions. The candidate also indicated that he prescribes treatment to the old age patients and goes further to initiate transfers and consultations in cases where such are necessary. Apart from the formal duties, he also counsels the family of the old age patient and guides them on how to provide the best medical attention and psychological care for the ageing patient.

Usefulness of the graduate education for present role

The graduate education has proven instrumental in the career of the candidate since his joining of the professional practice after graduating. The education equipped him with the complex knowledge of what is entailed in the nursing position that he now holds and how to handle patients from varying social, cultural and economic backgrounds and of varying ages. The training also equipped him with the deep knowledge of various diseases and infections and the necessary treatment that need to be applied to help in relieving the patient from the pain and symptoms of the diseases. This is key knowledge that is helping him in the daily work as a nurse who handles old patients. The graduate education also prepared him for diverse roles of a nurse a community advocate, as a counsellor and as a leader at work place and in the community as a whole. This makes him better handle the projects that the hospital entrust into his hands and also interact with the community within which he works. It has also helped him cope with fellow nurses in the courts of his job and subsequent leadership.

Wisdom shared by the candidate

In the process of the interview, there are implied and expressed lessons that the candidate left with the panel as he talked about his career and himself at work over the past few years that he has been n practice. The fundamental wisdom that came out was the significance of winning over the confidence of the patient and their trust in the process of attending to them. This was central to his successful handing of delicate patients like the old age patients. The other piece of wisdom he left the panel with was the significance of creating a bond with the patients and doing proper follow-up rather than waiting for the patients to fall sick again and come visiting the hospital. These follow-ups have enabled him to discover other intervening factors that hindered the quick recovery of the patients and in the process correcting them, leading to a quicker recovery of some of his patients.