Band 5 Interview questions

So this is a list of Band 5 Interview questions based on those my collegaues and I have been asked, and those I had been prepared for. I'll update this when I remember more.

Questions
Tell me something interesting about yourself
Tell me something about your training so far
Why do you want to work for this department
Why do you want to take part ina rotation programme
What do you think the changes will be when moving from student to staff nurse
How do you feel about the change from student to staff nurse
How do you maintain professional boundaries with patients and other staff
What is the MDT and what does it mean
Describe two elements of the NSF
What were some of the reccomedations made by Lord Laming's report
What was the most challenging part of training to be a nurse
What criticism have you received and how have you learned from it
Talk about two situations that you have felt vulnerable in
What is clinical governence/What is your role in clinical governence
What is your role in risk management
What piece of literature/research have you read and how it has changed your practice
What makes a good communicator
Why might a neonate be admitted to intensive care or special care
What is family centred care
What skills are necessary for good team work


Scenarios
You walk into a cubicle and see a nurse slapping a child, what do you do?

A 15 year old already consented by her parents to have an orthopaedic operation is now refusing to have it done and she tells you that she is pregnant. What would you do?

You notice a bruise on the back of a child when examining them. What would you do?

You go to collect a patient from theatre, what would you prepare before collecting the child and what would you do when collecting them?

You are admitting an 18month old with ?pneumonia from A&E what would you need to prepare before their arrival and what would you need to do on their arrival.

Patient prioritisation scenario
3 patients you have to look after.
A 4 year newly diagnosed insulin dependent diabetic who required regular BM's and insulin
An 8 year old asthmatic stable over night but still requiring 4 hourly nebulisers and a dose of prednisalone
A newborn baby in withdrawal requiring morphine injections. The parents aren't present. (I think that baby was in withdrawal, I'm suddenly having a panic that that was an assumption I made)
Q1: After receiving handover what are the first things you would do
Q2: In which order would you prioritise your patient and why

Advice and Tips for Student Nurses - Last Updated 30/01/07

Advice and tips for surviving your nursing training. Some of this is quite general and some specific or applying just to children's nursing. Some of these things may seem obvious but they're still worth pointing out. I'll add to this further as I come up with things, for that reason this list in non-alphabetical so new things can be added to the end. Feel free to comment with suggestions of your own.

Click a link to take you to that section of the page: Shoes, Portfolio, Bad placements, Sickness/Absence, Questions, Bubbles, Tongue Depressors, Urinalysis, Placement Essentials, Handwashing, Textbooks - Edited 30/01, Union Membership, Journals.

Shoes - You don't have to spend a fortune on shoes, but a good pair of shoes will last you throughout your training and it is essential that they comfortable and hard wearing. You will be on your feet a lot of the day and do a lot of walking. Think of them as an investment and don't necessarily go for the cheapest you can find.

Portfolio - do keep this updated as you progress through the course, you will need it later when you come to applying for work and it is something you will develop further when working. Don't make the mistake I did of having to catch it all up at the end. A little time as you go along will save you a lot of time later.

Bad placements - You will have placements you don't like and there will be staff/mentors that you don't get along with but from every bad experience you learn something, even if all you learn is that you don't want to work in that clinical speciality or that you don't want to be like that nurse. If you are having real problems do approach a senior member of staff who will be supportive, your link lecturer or your personal tutor.

Sickness/Absence - You will have to make up any sick time you take, unless it's just a few days, I'm not saying go in when you are unwell because for yourself, the staff and patients it is better that you don't. But I know how tempting it is on a bad placement not to go in and think you will make it up later, it is a lot harder later.

Questions - Ask questions. Yes, I know everyone tells you this but it's really important. If you don't understand something then ask, we have all been new and inexperienced. I'm a few months away from qualifying and I still ask questions I feel like I should know the answer to, but it is the best way to learn and often being given an explanation by a real human being in practice will make more sense that the textbook jargon.

Bubbles - As you may have guessed this is geared towards the children's nurses! Do not underestimate the power of bubbles, they can be a fantastic method of distraction or relaxation, but be mindful of the age/development of the child. Oh, and don't blow them in their faces!

Tongue depressor - This is a convenient place to write down your normal observation values, particularly for the paediatric nurses who will have to learn several. Pop it into your pocket and it's always to hand yet subtle!

Urinalysis - There will be time when you are asked to do a urinalysis on the tiniest amount of urine, as it may also need to be sent to the lab you don't want to use too much of it or contaminate it. Using a 2ml syringe and a needle, draw up a little and drop one droplet onto each of the coloured squares on the test trip, you can then return the remainder to the specimen pot.

Placement essentials - At least 2 black pens, inexpensive as they will be lost/borrowed/stolen regularly. A calculator, important for drug and fluid calculations and you could easily be doing these in your first placement. A watch/fobwatch with a second hand, fobwatch is the best. Scissors, you'll find there are never a pair around when you need them. Lipbalm and hand cream, neither of which should be in a pot/tub for infection control reasons - lipbalm in a stick and hand cream in a tube.

Handwashing - You will be told this a thousand times but handwashing is so important, and so many people do it badly. It is one of the most important things in the fight against infection. I know it's a pain to have to do it, and yes you'll feel like you're doing it constantly but it is important. Alcohol handrub/gel is quicker and more convenient but can dry out your hands.

Textbooks - Textbooks can be very pricey, borrow them from the library for assignemnts, but some are worth having at home for regular use. I bought quite a few when I started training, some were worth it an other's not! Here are some suggestions:

• Marieb - Essentials of Anatomy and Physiology. A good biology text, it's not too in depth but gives as much information as you will need.
  
• Huband and Trigg - Practices in Children's Nursing. this book is a great source of practical information for procedures/care both in hospital and the community, I've used it loads for essays. It now has a new edition out under the same titel but edited my Trigg and Mohammed.
  
• Wong's Nursing Care of Infants and Children. This was published last year and replaces/updates Whaley and Wong's Children's Nursing. A good all round text, but I prefer the Glasper and Richardson (which is also cheaper!)
  
• Glasper and Richardson - A Textbook of Children's and Young People's Nursing. I have now bought this book and it's great, I'd highly reccomend it and over the Wong text as it is specific to nursing in the UK and relates back to UK practice and legislation constantly.
  

I would definitely invest in a good biology text, and a good all-round text like the Glasper and Richardson. If you aren't sure about which books to buy check them out in your university library first. It is often cheaper to purchase books online.

Union Membership - It is very important that you join a union. You will receive discounted membership at a student. Our university was visited by UNISON and the RCN, I joined both because they were cheap and had good freebies! But I have stuck with RCN because I personally feel they offer the best support to nurses as they are specifically for nurses.

Journals - I've subscribed to two different journals during my training. Nursing Standard and Paediatric Nursing, I know only get Paediatric Nursing but may opt to take out Nursing Standard again. NS offered a good discount for students and is worth getting for that reason alone. I find PN has some very useful articles and current news. You should be able to access these journals in your university library if you don't wish to subscribe to them. The Nursing Standard and Paediatric Nursing are published by the RCN and if you are a member you have access to their online journal versions, including the archive. Even if you choose not to subscribe to any I would recommend reading one on a regular basis.

How do you become a nurse?

So... You've decided you're interested in becoming a nurse and want to know more about the career, how and where to apply, the different options available to you.

The first place I direct you to is NHS Careers - Nursing, this site will give you more information about nursing as a career, the different kinds of nursing you can do and the training/experience necessary.

There are four branches of nursing; Adults, Children, Mental Health and Learning Disability Nursing. I think all of them require different personal characteristics and strengths so it is important to consider where you think would suit you best. The NHS Careers website can give you more information about the branches.

There are different routes of entry, under-graduate or post-graduate, and depending on the qualifications you already have you can join a degree or diploma programme. Post-graduate study, if you first degree was in a health related subject, will be shorter but at diploma level. Training is typically three years long, and will be 50% theory based and 50% supervised placement based, for post-graduate (modified) study it will take two years.

The first year of training is a Common Foundation Year (6 months for the post-graduate modified programme), after that you will spend two years (18 months for the modified programme) training in branch. Some universities require you to apply to these separately, others require you to choose your branch of study outright. Whichever you do you should get some experience in other branches in the first year and the opportunity to change branch when you go into your second year if you realise you've made a mistake!

To join a degree programme you are required to apply through UCAS and for a Diploma programme through NMAS. Typically for a degree you will be required to have A-Levels, and for a Diploma 5 GCSEs with grades C and above, each university sets its own criteria so it is best to check with the universities you are interested in first.

The differences between a degree and diploma?

• Either way you will become a registered nurse in your chosen branch
  
• Your tuition fees will be paid on both programmes
  
• The bursary you receive is different. On a Diploma programme you receive between £5,500-6,500 per year, on the Degree programme it is means-tested and the upper amount is about half of that of the Diploma.
  
• Once qualified the degree nurse will not be paid more than the diploma nurse.
  
• Both require three years of training.
  
• A degree is considered desirable but not essential when applying for a job, whilst they will choose the best person for the job if you have a degree it may set you above other other candidates of a similar standard.
  
• The training itself is very similar, on the degree programme I believe there is more of an emphasis on management and research but don't quote me on that! Some of the degree assessments will be at a higher standard than the diploma.
  

This information was accurate when I was applying, and from talking to other students and univserity staff little has changed. However it is best to research it yourself on the NHS Careers website and NMAS/UCAS sites.

Links on the right side of my blog to the Nursing and Midwifery Council, Royal College of Nursing, and Nursing Standard which may provide you with more information and current nursing issues.

Why did I decide to become a nurse?

I thought I'd write this as a sort of 'background to me' post.

I suppose the simple answer, and one that not everyone will identify with, is that I felt called to be a nurse, called by God. Put into other words perhaps more easily understood/accepted, it's who I am, through and through, and who I was meant to be. It's not a just job, it's not something to make money (because no one would become a nurse for the money!) it's the person that I am and even if I were to win the lottery and never have to work again I would, because I love what I do.

I first decided I wanted to be a nurse when I was a very little girl. I wanted to be a nurse who looked after old people and did their hair as well! I continued wanting to be a nurse until my mid-late teens where I dabbled with the idea of joining the police force, and when I left school with just AS-Levels that was what I intended to do once I had worked for a while. By this time I had realised that I was good with children and I'd done quite a lot of voluntary work with children of all age groups. I liked children, and they liked me.

My first job was temping in a Child Development Centre in the Occupational Therapy department doing administration. When I was filing I'd quite often browse the notes learning about various medical conditions and looking others up later when I got home from work. After 6 or so weeks there I was offered a job as the Chlamydia Screening Programme Co-ordinator, glamorous hey? I was based in a microbiology lab and surrounded by the hospital environment I realised how much I wanted to be a nurse. I applied in the December, and was offered a place for an April start date, which was fortunate as by now I was hating my job and having a lot of difficulty with the person I worked with. I applied to both Adult and Children's nursing, the adult department didn't offer me an interview and I realised that all my experience with children on a voluntary basis that I'd put into my personal statement was marking me out as someone with a passion for children.

I have loved my training. It's been hard work, great fun, tiring, and rewarding. Of course there are some mornings where I really don't feel like getting up and going in to university or a bad placement, but on the whole I have loved it. Almost three years have passed and I can't believe I'm going to be a grown-up nurse sometime soon! I'm looking forward to going out and working, because I've heard that's where the real learning begins!