7 Essential Outpatient Nurse Interview Questions to Ask

Outpatient nurses, also known as ambulatory care nurses, are specialized in providing care services outside of hospital settings. They play an important role in helping patients manage chronic conditions and promoting community health through education. As the skills needed to work in outpatient vs. inpatient care settings are quite different, it’s important to prepare targeted outpatient nurse interview questions to help you recruit the best candidates for this role.

Posting a well-written job description will help attract a strong pool of applicants, but the interview process is where you’ll really get a sense of each candidate’s personal qualities.

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These seven interview questions will help you identify the best outpatient nurses for your team. Keep track of your outpatient nurse applicants by downloading and printing the following evaluation form.

Interview Questions for Outpatient Nurse Candidates

Outpatient settings are popular workplaces for both new graduates and senior nurses, so it’s helpful to keep your questions focused more on job-related skills than experience. Here are seven outpatient nursing interview questions that will help you gauge these essential skills.

1. What brought you to outpatient care?

This is one of the best outpatient nurse interview questions to start with because it gives you an introduction to a candidate’s motivations for choosing this specialty. You can get a better sense of who they are and hear about their professional experiences in a more personal context.

What to listen for:

• Demonstrates a passion for helping and empowering patients throughout their care journey
• Explains how their personal values align with your facility’s mission and goals

Potential follow-up questions:

• What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses as an outpatient nurse?
• Where do you see yourself in five years?

2. Describe your process for teaching patients about self-management and medication adherence.

Outpatient nurses often see patients who need help managing chronic conditions in their day-to-day lives. Because of this, they must feel comfortable teaching patients about self-management and daily medications. This question assesses their approach to providing patient education.

What to listen for:

• Understands how to break complex medical information down for patients
• Caters patient teaching to suit each individual’s unique learning needs

Potential follow-up questions:

• What unique strategies do you use when communicating with elderly patients?
• What would you do if a patient presented to your facility with a Hemoglobin A1C of 12.5?

3. What would you do if you encountered a patient who was non-compliant with their care?

It’s common for patients to revisit outpatient settings when their treatment isn’t working or if they’re having trouble managing their care at home. Outpatient nurse interview questions like this one evaluate how well a candidate can work with a patient who may not want to follow their initial care plan.

What to listen for:

• Remains empathetic and understanding in difficult situations
• Shows confidence when working with patients who require ongoing guidance or education

Potential follow-up questions:

• What would you do if you noticed signs of abuse when assessing a patient with a developmental delay?
• Imagine that you are assessing a patient who you believe needs a higher level of nursing care. What steps would you take to ensure they received the appropriate treatment?

4. How do you prioritize tasks when dealing with multiple patients at a time?

Outpatient nurses can see patients at a much higher volume than nurses in inpatient settings. As such, they must be comfortable managing their time under pressure. This question invites the candidate to share their personal approach to handling the daily demands of the job.

Nurses entering ambulatory care should already anticipate working with more patients. As such, the strongest answers will demonstrate a candidate’s confidence working with multiple patients without compromising care quality.

What to listen for:

• Demonstrates strong critical thinking skills and nursing judgement
• Triages care based on patient acuity

Potential follow-up questions:

• How do you stay resilient after a tough shift?
• What types of tasks would you feel comfortable delegating to a CNA?

5. Describe your process for coordinating patient care with other members of the healthcare team.

Outpatient settings require good communication and coordination throughout the entire team in order to optimize each patient’s visit. Patients will see many different staff members in a short time period, so it’s important for candidates to have effective teamwork skills and stay on top of their tasks.

Strong answers to this outpatient nurse interview question should indicate a candidate’s understanding of their scope of practice, including both delegation and appropriate communication. If they’re a new nurse, they should be able to draw on their past experiences working with others in their clinical rotations.

What to listen for:

• Understands how to communicate to the nursing chain-of-command
• Feels comfortable providing input during patient rounding

Potential follow-up questions:

• Who would you ask for help if you needed assistance when ambulating a patient?
• Have you ever had a disagreement with a coworker? How did you find common ground?

6. What steps do you take to provide culturally competent care to diverse patient populations?

Outpatient nurses provide care for diverse patient populations across the community. So, it’s important for outpatient nurse interview questions (and answers) to touch on cultural competence.

Candidates should express a willingness to adapt their care and meet patients where they are based on their cultural values. If a candidate seems set on delivering care based on their own cultural standards, this may be a red flag.

What to listen for:

• Understands the negative effects of unconscious bias on patient health outcomes
• Demonstrates clinical curiosity, not judgment or impatience

Potential follow-up questions:

• How do you build rapport with your patients?
• Have you ever witnessed an ethical dilemma as an outpatient nurse? How did you handle the situation?

7. How comfortable are you with providing patient care and education via telephone or other remote telehealth platforms?

It’s becoming increasingly common for patients to have telehealth or virtual visits with outpatient care teams. This question assesses a candidate’s comfort level with consulting patients through these types of platforms.

While you shouldn’t expect candidates to be experts on telehealth, they should — at baseline — express an openness to learning on the job. Strong answers will showcase a candidate’s flexibility toward new technologies and willingness to connect with patients through different modes of communication.

What to listen for:

• Shows excitement about the opportunity to participate in innovative care initiatives
• Demonstrates a willingness to learn new skills

Potential follow-up questions:

• Do you have any experience working with a medical interpreter?
• What steps do you take to preserve patient privacy when providing virtual care?

Find the Right Candidates to Interview for Your Outpatient Facility

To ensure you’re asking the right people your outpatient nurse interview questions, it’s important to first attract a strong pool of applicants. Not sure where to start? IntelyCare’s job board can help you reach a nationwide network of nursing professionals who are actively seeking jobs.