Licensed Practical Nurse - Interview Questions

Many people become NPs because of their passion for caring for others, competitive wages, benefits, and ability to make a difference in the lives of those they care for. When the hiring manager asks this question, they want to understand what motivates you to strive for success, and how committed you are to your work and your patients. 

Be honest about why you became an NP, but don’t focus on some of the basic responses such as income or benefits. Instead, highlight your passion, compassion, goals and other personal reasons why you went into the field. 

When answering this question, be honest about what you feel are truly the most challenging parts of being an NP. However, also be sure to discuss what you do to handle those aspects of the job and how you manage it. The hiring manager wants to know you recognize you will face challenges, but also have the ability to overcome them. 

As for the most rewarding aspects, this can be a fun answer that showcases your passion, compassion, motivation, and career goals. It can help the hiring manager get to know you better. 

“I’ve found that the most challenging part of working as an NP is _____ because _____. To overcome this challenge, I _____ and _____. This helps me provide better care to my patients, be a better leader for my team, and have a balanced home life with my family.”

In the healthcare industry, maintaining patient confidentiality and making ethical decisions that are truly in the best interest of the patient is critical. A violation of ethics or privacy could have detrimental results, including significant negative financial impacts to the hospital/facility or even a medical professional losing their license to practice. 

In your answer, outline your ability to both identify and react to unethical behavior. The hiring manager wants to make sure you recognize the importance of ethical behavior and actions, and that this aspect is important to you. They also are looking for how you work with others and your responsibility and reliability. 

If you have a specific example of a time you were in this situation in the past, be sure to share what happened, what you did and why, and what you learned from the situation.

As an NP, you may work with several other medical professionals such as doctors, nurses, therapists, pharmacists, hospitality staff, and more. Strong relationship-building and teamwork skills are important in this role and are critical for patient care and safety. 

That said, not all professionals you’ll work with are as friendly or easy to work with as you’d like. To be a good fit for an NP position, you must have the ability to develop relationships with other physicians, regardless of personal feelings. 

“When I first join a practice, I like to try to take the other providers to lunch, bring them coffee, meet for drinks after work, or simply spend a few minutes chatting and getting to know them. I believe developing good relationships immediately with those around you significantly contributes to my success as a nurse, and allows me to give the best care to my patients possible. I also try to always make myself available for questions or consults, and go above and beyond to ensure I do what they need.”

Especially if you serve as a primary care physician for patients, you’ll likely deal with patients who are non-compliant or otherwise difficult. 

In many cases, they may be giving you trouble because they are confused, scared, anxious or another negative feeling impacting their ability to be positive or understand. It’s important to share that you recognize this, and provide a brief example of how you connect with patients who are in this situation. 

You may also sometimes have patients who don’t follow their treatment plan, attend follow-up visits, are no-shows to scheduled appointments, or don’t take medications correctly. While frustrating, the hiring manager is looking for you to describe how you use education, patience, and interpersonal skills to help the patient get to where they need to be.

NPs take care of a variety of patient needs from admission to discharge, either from a hospital or from a doctor’s office or another outpatient setting. This role requires a variety of qualities and skills, such as record keeping, understanding of technology, patient safety knowledge, education skills, communication skills, problem-solving skills, time management, leadership, and more. 

What makes you a strong candidate likely comes down to a few of these qualities. Highlight the qualities you feel are most important for an NP to be successful, and share examples of how you have those qualities. You should try to match your answer to what the company is looking for in the right candidate. 

“I believe _____ and _____ are the most important qualities or skills an NP can have because _____. These skills allow an NP to _____. In a previous role, these skills have helped me to _____.”

While the role of an NP can be summarized by saying they help patients get and stay healthy, there is a wide range of specialties and subspecialties NPs can practice in, each with differing responsibilities, types of patients, diagnoses, and treatments. 

For example, you could be a family NP, cardiac NP, Pediatric NP, women’s health NP, acute care NP, orthopedic NP, or oncology NP. Practitioners can switch specialties, both formally or informally, or they can have more than one.

Regardless of your specialty/subspecialty, how you answer this question will give the hiring manager insight into what drives and motivates you, your passions, and your career objectives. Be honest about the reason(s) behind your decisions, and if you have a personal story, you can share it.

It’s probably safe to say not many people enjoy going to the doctor or hospital. However, it’s a necessary part of life. 

That said, healthcare providers must recognize that oftentimes, the reason someone is seeking care is that they are sick or injured, which could cause a variety of other feelings - including feeling uncomfortable, nervous, anxious, or scared. 

Again, it’s important to share that you recognize this and if you can, provide a brief example of how you connect with patients who are in this situation. Is there something specific you do or say? Do you set up your exam rooms or office in a particular way? Do you contact the patient before the appointment to prepare them for what to expect? Describe this to the hiring manager.

Working in healthcare can be stressful, especially when dealing with sick, injured, scared, confused, or urgent patients. You may have long days, be exposed to a variety of conditions, types of patients, manage team members, and perform a variety of diagnosis and treatment tasks. The interviewer needs to feel confident that you can handle and manage stress effectively.

Talk about how you handle stress or pressure, and techniques you use to operate under fire. Share how even in stressful situations, you strive to remain level-headed and positive. If you have a specific example of a time you felt overwhelmed or stressed, and how you overcame it, share that. 

“Having some stress or pressure in this role motivates me to be more productive and organized. Stress is a part of the job, but I’ve also worked hard to develop ways to manage my stress more efficiently. This includes ______, _____ and _____.”

Problem-solving skills are critical for a nurse practitioner, as well as leadership skills and the ability to stay calm and defuse a stressful situation. Not only may you be required to resolve a conflict between employees or with patients, but you may also resolve problems that happen throughout the day. 

The hiring manager wants to know you’re able to resolve disagreements or problems quickly and effectively to ensure the work continues and other employees and patients are not negatively affected. You should be able to think on the fly and implement effective resolutions. 

You may want to tell a story about an experience you had resolving a specific problem or dispute: “In my last role, two of my nurses disagreed about _____. I was able to quickly solve the problem by _____.”

Or, talk about another problem you face and what you did to resolve it. “At a previous hospital, we faced a problem of _____. By thinking quickly on my feet and using the knowledge I’ve developed from experience caring for patients, I was able to _____ and resolve the problem.”