Top 10 Best OR Nurse Interview Questions With Examples

In this article, you will get a list of the 10 OR nurse interview questions with examples.

Along with this, all the important information regarding the questions will also be mentioned, so make sure to read it till the end.

Without further ado, let’s get going.

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Table of Contents

Interview Questions for OR Nurses

If you rather consume video content here is a quick, informational one from LuvNurseB.

If you prefer reading, just keep on reading the article to master the OR nurse interview questions.

Why do you want to be an OR nurse?

It may seem like an obvious question, but your answer will tell a lot about why these people should hire you.

Even if you’re the most skilled nurse that’s available, it won’t mean that much if your will to help others doesn’t match that will.

And if you’re someone that isn’t as skilled, you might get the job just because of your passion to help others.

What operations do you have experience in?

Certain hospitals are going to deal with problems that other hospitals may not have to deal with.

For example, in dangerous areas of the country.

Some places experience things like stabbing and bullet wounds, while other places don’t even have to deal with that.

Every nurse is better at certain things when compared to other nurses. There are also going to be weaknesses you may have those other nurses do have.

As long as you have pride in what you do as a nurse, you’re going to be fine by making the hospital better.

What are the legal aspects of an OR nurse’s role?

This is a great question because it lets you understand the gravity of the situation that you’re dealing with.

Even when you want to save someone, there are certain things that you can’t do because you can jeopardize your role as a hospital and the status of people who work at the hospital.

It’s a question that will show you that you may not always know the ramifications of what you’re doing.

It also wouldn’t be bad to ask the employer about this, since they would usually be more than willing to try to educate you on this.

How do you handle stress at work?

Stress is something that can often cloud your judgment and make you do things that you may have never considered ever doing.

It’s best to consider that you may act differently when there’s there a threat of something going wrong.

There isn’t a wrong answer to this question, but it’s best to be honest so the interviewer can assess your strengths and weaknesses.

Walk me through what [BLANK] operation would be

There are a lot of operations that are different from each other and you have a responsibility to know how to do the operations that you’re hired to do.

See also: Responsibility of a Nurse

This process will show if you’re actually qualified to do your job.

A degree is obviously important to get a job, but you need to be able to prove that you can help people as much as possible.

Not everyone knows how to do these operations which will weed out who won’t get the job.

There can’t be excuses when someone’s life is at risk and there are people who don’t know what to do.

Overall, nothing that they will talk about won’t come as a surprise, and don’t let it bother you too much if you stumble over your answer.

How do you prepare for a procedure?

Any procedure is going to be important and time management is also essential for people.

See also: Why Nurses Are Important?

Knowing how they answer this question can tell the interviewer a lot about a patient.

The longer a nurse has been working, the more they are likely to prepare for their procures.

Not only that, but they are going to prepare more in advance as time goes on.

This is because when the procedure actually begins, things can often be very time-sensitive and there isn’t a lot of time to work on the patient.

A new nurse probably isn’t going to prepare as much as someone who’s been doing this for decades.

However, all you should look for in their answer is if they’re taking their position as a nurse seriously.

Generally, that’s all that matters when getting a new nurse.

See also: ER Nurse Interview Questions

What’s the protocol to prepare the OR if a patient has a known latex allergy?

This is an essential question to ask because there are a lot of people with latex allergies.

Many people want to go to the hospital to deal with their problems and not create new ones by not asking the patient questions.

Generally, you should always be asking the patient questions.

The patient knows their body better than the nurse does.

See also: PACU Nurse Interview Questions

Asking them things constantly when taking care of them is going to help them deal with problems that could be prevented.

This is a good thing, and a great practice to use when taking care of patients.

Operating Room Nurse Interview Questions and Answers

Have you ever had a conflict with a nurse? How did you resolve the situation?

Generally, this is something that will happen in a workplace, especially when multiple people are passionate about a goal that they may have.

There are good ways and bad ways to deescalate a situation and how the nurse did it should tell you everything you should want to know about them.

If things ended in a disagreement then sometimes that’s the best way to go about things.

If it ended with one side understanding the other then that’s what is best for the workplace.

However, things should never escalate to physical altercations. Maybe the nurse has never been in a conflict before.

How do you calm down nervous or anxious patients?

There is no right answer for this, but there are a few consistent strategies to make sure that the patient doesn’t lose their cool.

The first thing you can do is reassure them that you know what you’re doing and everything will be alright.

Sometimes, the patients have a ritual that’s able to make them calm for these kinds of situations.

For something like a surgery, the patient is going to be drugged out anyway, so they aren’t even going to feel the effects of a procedure until days later.

However, the best thing a patient can do is reassure them due to the experience that they have.

They can also explain that the worst-case scenario isn’t as bad as the patient may think it can be.

What are things to check for in surgery before a procedure for safety?

This is an essential question to ask because of how dangerous surgery can be for the patient.

It can go horribly wrong and leave the patient with unintended scars for the rest of their life.

Safety is the most important part of the surgery because it can cause problems long after the surgery has concluded.

Regardless of where the nurse learned from, they should have an idea of precautions to take before surgery.

Not only that, but they should be able to explain to you in what order those steps have to occur.

If they can’t do something as basic as that, then you have a real problem on your hands.

If the applying nurse can’t explain the steps of safety before a big procedure, it may be best not to hire them.

Conclusion: OR Nurse Interview Questions

Being a nurse is something that people who have taken the time to go to school for it should be proud of.

Nurses are helping the world and saving lives, which offers one of the greatest feelings of satisfaction that is almost nonexistent from any other job.

But this is also a position with many risks and liabilities.

If the hospital hires a nurse who isn’t responsible and constantly hurts patients in procedures, they can lose their hospital and be hit with fines.

The nurses and doctors involved can get sued for “malpractice” and potentially lose their license in the process.

Regardless of how skilled you may think some of the nurses that you want to hire are, you must make sure that they know the basics.

Not only should you do this to make your hospital better, but that nurse should be able to do far more than what you’re asking them to do.

It’s fine to ask them some basic questions such as how they got into the profession, but later in the interview, ask them the specifics of being a nurse.

Make sure that they remember the core principles of certain procedures and how they handle situations.

Not everything they say has to be perfect, but what’s important is making sure that this person is someone capable of saving lives.

You don’t have to press them very hard on the specifics of every topic, and you shouldn’t hit them with gotcha questions either.

Doing something like that is just going to make them trust you a lot less.

Try your best to be honest with them and ask them things that any nurse should do.

But you also want to ask them things that define their character.

Things that make them establish how well they get along with others and their interactions with patients.

Sometimes, questions like that are just as important as the specifics of certain procedures.

See also: Interview Questions for Nurses

As long as you feel like you can respect the interviewee, they should be someone worth hiring.

Those were the 10 most frequently asked OR nurse interview questions. Hope you find this article helpful!

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OR Nurse Interview Questions With Examples