Top 7 Pediatric Nurse Interview Questions to Ask

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Written by Danielle Roques, BSN, RN Content Writer, IntelyCare
Pediatric nurses cheer up a child patient who's in a hospital bed, along with the child's father.

Pediatric nurses are highly specialized care providers who treat sick and injured children. Recruiting an experienced and capable nurse ready for the job can be challenging. By crafting well-written pediatric nurse interview questions, you can find the candidate you’re looking for.

In this article, we’ll start by explaining the role of a pediatric nurse and review seven unique interview questions and responses that can indicate whether an individual has what it takes to succeed. By structuring interviews appropriately, you’ll be able to fill your open position in no time.

What Is the Role of a Pediatric Nurse?

Pediatric nurses care for children from infancy into young adulthood and practice in a variety of clinical settings. Many nurses work in outpatient clinics providing routine care to healthy children, while others work in acute care, home health, and long-term care settings. They administer medications, assist with wound care, and help educate patients and their families.

Caring for children can be incredibly challenging and there’s a very small margin of error for mistakes. It’s important that these nurses have the prioritization and assessment skills necessary for safe patient care. Asking pediatric nurse interview questions that reveal behavior traits and relevant experience can help hiring managers ensure that a nurse candidate is fit for the job. Here’s a list of key questions to ask as well as a downloadable candidate evaluation form that you can use to help you assess their responses.

7 Interview Questions for a Pediatric Nurse

When developing nurse interview questions, it’s important to include a mix of personal background, career trajectory, and pediatric scenario questions to get a complete picture of an employee’s skills and abilities. Here are seven example interview questions facilities can ask to choose the perfect candidate.

1. What made you want to become a pediatric nurse?

Nearly every nursing interview will start off with an introductory question to reveal personality traits and professional experience. Encourage the nurse to share personal details and stories if they feel comfortable. Demonstrating a warm and welcoming tone is important for pediatric nurses and helps establish trust with patients and their families.

Starting out with general pediatric nurse interview questions helps hiring managers get an understanding of the nurse’s patience, compassion, and temperament. Establish a light-hearted, conversational tone to show the nurse candidate that you care about them as a whole person and want them to feel comfortable talking to nurse leaders.

2. Why are you interested in working as a nurse at our facility?

Before diving into pediatric nursing interview scenario questions, it’s important to get a general sense of the nurse’s interests and motivations for joining your team. Maybe the nurse just purchased a home close to your facility, or maybe they’re looking for new professional experiences and relationships.

A nurse who is confident and prepared has done their homework. They may mention an alignment with your organization’s mission, vision, or values, or might share facility achievements or certifications that attracted them to the role. Assess whether the nurse candidate analyzed the job description and see if they have a good understanding of what it’s like to work in your pediatric unit.

Tip: After listening to the nurse’s response, you can share a bit about facility perks and positive attributes of your team. The nurse is interviewing your facility as much as you are interviewing them, and it’s helpful to share statistics and facts that set your facility apart from the competition.

3. What are some of the biggest challenges you face as a pediatric nurse, and how do you work through them?

The nursing profession requires tenacity in the face of adversity. Excellent answers will demonstrate a nurse’s understanding of the complexity of pediatric nursing and reveal decision-making skills that help them through tough times. Knowing that a nurse candidate can overcome clinical obstacles puts you one step closer to hiring a top-tier employee.

Tip: Answers to this question can also provide insight into a candidate’s coping and stress-management skills. Listen for responses that include concepts like self-care, work-life balance, and team debriefing. Resilient nurses have greater career satisfaction and are more likely to stay in caregiving positions long-term, saving you time and money in recruitment efforts.

4. How are you able to help parents and other caregivers cope with anxiety or grief?

Prioritization and delegation are two essential skills for all healthcare providers. Nurses must be able to calmly communicate and assist parents through difficult times while juggling clinical duties and long work shifts. A strong response would include empowering parents to get involved with caregiving tasks like:

  • Giving their child a bath.
  • Holding the child’s hand during intravenous line dressing changes.
  • Pushing the child’s wheelchair as they travel to the operating room.

Providing education and training to family members can help them better understand their child’s clinical status and allow them to proactively participate during treatment. Answers to pediatric nurse interview questions like this one can highlight a nurse’s empathy, compassion, and moral principles.

5. Talk about a time when you had to advocate for your patient and explain how the situation was resolved.

Children are vulnerable and are often unable to communicate discomfort or pain. Pediatric nurses are responsible for recognizing and communicating concerning symptoms to physicians and other members of the care team.

Listen for responses that demonstrate timely clinical assessment, decision-making, and understanding of chain-of-command. High-quality professional nurses prioritize teamwork and delegation when providing exemplary patient care. Make sure that your nurse candidate is able to put the patient’s needs first.

6. What leadership roles have you served in previous positions, and how have they made you a better nurse?

Leadership is a desirable quality that many hiring managers seek in nurse candidates. Nurses who step up for leadership roles show ambition, initiative, and dedication to improving patient care. Leadership can be demonstrated in the following ways:

  • Serving as unit charge nurse
  • Developing unit-based training on evidence-based practices
  • Chairing hospital-wide council meetings
  • Mentoring or precepting new graduate nurses
  • Presenting a facility project at a nursing conference or symposium

7. What strengths will you bring to our pediatric care team, and why are you the perfect fit for this position?

Wrapping up with this question allows nurse candidates to boast about their achievements and share any last-minute anecdotes or comments. Whether the candidate is a new graduate or an experienced nurse, provide them the opportunity to show what makes them the best candidate for the job. Be sure to thank them for their time and provide guidance for next steps.

We Match Professional Nurses With High-Quality Facilities

Whether you’re applying for a position or looking to fill a vacancy, it’s important to familiarize yourself with common pediatric nurse interview questions. Here at IntelyCare, we can help you join or build an incredible nursing team by matching high-quality nurses with facilities in need.