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Interview Tips for Remote Nursing Jobs

Due to the recent pandemic, there has been an influx of nurses looking to leave the bedside. Work-from-home positions have become more appealing to expert and novice nurses alike.

Let’s face it, bedside nursing isn’t for everyone. Even nurses who love the bedside have become burned out due to the working conditions during the pandemic.

Whatever the reason, it’s never too late to switch gears and try something new!

I’ve been a bedside nurse, case manager, and utilization review nurse. I don’t regret any time spent at either position because the knowledge I’ve gained has made me a better nurse.

Lately, I’ve gotten a lot of questions surrounding the interview process for work-from-home nurse positions.

Whether you’re applying to a hospital, insurance company, or an agency for a remote position, the interviewing process is virtually the same.

When interviewing for any remote position, you will either have a phone interview or a video interview through web-ex, skype, etc.

These positions can sometimes be difficult to come by, as a lot of employers require previous experience in the field to be considered.

Read Getting Experience Without Experience to learn how I was able to get my foot in the door.

Below you will find tips on how to ace your phone/virtual interview and make yourself stand out to employers!

Phone/Virtual Interview Tips & Tricks:
1. Be in a quiet area away from distractions (no kids, pets or TV on)
2. Have the questions you want to ask the interviewer ready and in front of you.
3. Stand while on the phone (helps with confidence and concentration)

4. Smile while talking (you can hear a smile!)

5. Have a pen and notepad in front of you, along with your resume!!

6. Create a checklist. Review the job posting and make a list of how your qualifications match the hiring criteria (Have the list available so you can glance at it during the interview).

Phone/Virtual Interview Do’s & Don’ts

• Do smile. Smiling will project a positive image to the listener and will change the tone of your voice. It can also be helpful to stand during the interview since this typically gives your voice more energy and enthusiasm.

• Don’t smoke, chew gum, eat, or drink.

• Do focus, listen, and enunciate. Be sure to listen to the question, ask for clarification if you are not sure what the interviewer is asking, and speak slowly, carefully, and clearly when you respond.

• Do take your time — it is perfectly acceptable to take a moment or two to collect your thoughts.

• Don’t interrupt the interviewer.

• Do take notes. It’s hard to remember what you discussed after the fact, so take brief notes during the interview.

• Do have questions to ask the interviewer ready.

• Do remember to thank the interviewer at the end of your conversation and ask when you can expect to hear back.

Important to know:
– interviewers will want to get to know you. (They will ask some informal questions)
– They will want to know your work history – please study your resume.
– They will ask behavioral based questions (standard interview questions)

Questions to be prepared for:

Why do you think you would be a good fit?
How did you handle change in the workplace?
Tell me about your experience working with healthcare members & providers.
Can you tell me a little about yourself?
What do you know about the company?
Why do you want this job?
Why should we hire you?
Tell me about a challenge or conflict you have faced at work, and how you dealt with it.
Why are you leaving your current job?

Great questions to ask the interviewer:

What kind of company culture do you have?
What is the training process for this role?
What does a typical day look like?
How have successful employees managed to stand out in the past?

These tips come from personal experience I’ve learned along the way, as well as directly from managers of big-name insurance companies such as Anthem, Aetna and Humana. I hope these tips provide some insight in the work-from-home interview process and help you land the job!

Tips For New Grads

Surviving your first year

When I was a new grad, I remember feeling like a straight up idiot. I felt like I forgot everything I learned in nursing school. I would follow my preceptor around like a lost puppy and dread being left alone in a room with a patient, even for a moment.

I’m quiet by nature, so building rapport with patients felt like a task. I hated when patients would ask me questions because I felt like I didn’t know enough, and I second guessed everything I thought I knew.

If you’re a new grad and can relate even just a little, I’m here to tell you that it does get better…. much better.

Soon you’ll be walking round your unit with your head high like you own the place. You’ll answer questions like a pro (because you’ll be one) and building rapport will become second nature.

Self-doubt and nervousness in the beginning are completely normal. It means you’re doing something right Even seasoned nurses find themselves in situations where they are unsure of what to do.

To help make the transition from novice to experienced nurse a little easier, I’m going to share some tips that helped me as a new grad.

Tip 1: Ask questions!

Don’t be shy about it either!

No one wants to look dumb at work, especially nurses. However, let me tell you, it’s better to ask a question than deal with the consequences of screwing something up. In our field, even small mistakes can cost someone their life.

You’ll find that nurses ask each other questions all the time, even questions that they “should” know the answer to. I sometimes ask a question I know the answer to just so I can make sure another nurse has the same answer as I do. I know that sounds crazy but working 12 hours and managing multiple patients at a time can make you a little crazy.

Tip 2: Cluster care, when possible.

As a new grad, time management was one of the biggest hurdles I had to overcome. The first few hours of your shift are often the busiest, and without proper time management you can be stuck playing catchup for hours.

Clustering care is especially helpful when you have multiple patients on contact precautions (such as COVID-19 patients) and working on night shift.

The purpose of clustering care is to decrease the number of trips into a patient’s room by completing several tasks at one time.

An example of clustering care would include administering medications, completing an assessment/reassessment, performing wound care, emptying drains, turning/repositioning and addressing toileting needs all in one trip to the patient’s room. Keep in mind clustering care is not always possible, and patient needs must be addressed no matter when you last entered the room!

Tip 3: Keep report short and sweet!

I hated giving report as a new grad. Even with my SBAR sheet in hand I stumbled over my words and it took forever. Giving thorough and concise report comes with time as you become more comfortable in your role as a nurse.

What helped to speed this process along for me was making my own SBAR sheet. I started by making my SBAR sheet much shorter than those provided on the unit. I also arranged the sheet in a way that made sense to me and flowed well.

Another tip that helped me was sticking to the most important information. I should not take you 30 minutes to give report on one patient. Each nurse does their own assessment, so some things are not important to give in report.

For example, the on-coming nurse doesn’t need to know that the patient prefers grape popsicles over cherry. They would however, need to know of any changes in patient condition that occurred on your shift.

Another way to speed up report is to refrain from starting your assessment in the middle of report and, requesting that the other nurse does the same.

Tip 4: Utilize the rapid response team!

At some point in your nursing career you’re going to need the rapid response team. The rapid response team is just as it sounds. It’s a team of nurses, doctors/NPs, and other clinicians who respond rapidly to declining patient statuses that don’t require a code blue.

The purpose of the RRT is to address the early warning signs of deterioration to prevent cardiac arrest. The duration of a rapid response situation is typically resolved quickly with the patient returning to baseline or being transferred to a higher acuity unit.

You’ll use your clinical judgement, along with the signs and symptoms your patient is displaying to decide whether you need to call the doctor, call a code, or call the RRT.

But what if you don’t know what to do?

Of course, you can refer to a senior nurse on the unit, but if your patient is declining and you’re unsure of what to do, the rapid response team is the way to go.

*Patient’s friends and family can call the rapid response team as well if they feel that its needed!

Tip 5: Chart your assessments ASAP!

This may be the most important tip I can give a new grad. When I first started out, I would stay late after every shift catching up on charting. Staying late to chart is extremely annoying (trust me) and will eventually lead to incremental overtime, which most employers frown upon.

Not only that, but you also want your charting to be as close to real time as possible in case your patient begins to deteriorate. The last thing you want during a rapid response or a code is to have large gaps in your charting.

Its not always possible to have your charts up to date, but you at least want your initial assessment charted within the first hour of your shift. Yes, you can have your assessments written on paper, so that you can remember details and chart later. However, in nursing if you did not chart it, then you did not do it, so you want your charts to be as up to date as possible.

Nursing can be scary and often overwhelming, but I hope these tips help to make things a little easier!

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Getting Your Foot in The Door: How To Get Experience Without Experience

Don’t you hate when you try to apply for a job you’re really interested in, and you see they require 2 plus years of experience to be considered? How are you supposed to get experience if they won’t give you a chance?

I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard “there’s a nursing shortage”, or people bragging about having secured a job before even finishing nursing school.

As great as those statements are, it’s not always easy to secure the job you want. Some units are easier to get into as opposed to others. For example, getting a job on a med-surge unit would be easier to obtain than a job on the NICU. This is because units like med-surge typically have more openings due to a higher turn-over rate when compared to the NICU.

Below you’ll find 3 tips I used to land jobs in areas that aren’t the easiest to get without previous experience.

TIP 1: Networking

This is a lot easier than it sounds. If you’re like me, you’re not very social and don’t have a relationship with the managers you work with. I’m here to tell you that it’s OKAY!

Usually, networking is simply asking someone to give you a chance. When I wanted to work on the NICU, I emailed the manager outlining my desire to work on the neonatal unit. There weren’t any available positions at the time, but she allowed me to shadow a nurse on the unit. I made sure to send her a follow up email, thanking her for the opportunity.

A few weeks later she emailed me with instructions on applying to a newly opened position.

TIP 2: Resume Building

Building your resume is extremely important! You can be the best candidate for the job, but still get looked over because someone else looks better than you on paper. You want your resume to contain experience relevant to the job title.

For example, you don’t need to put your dog walking experience on your resume as a new grad nurse. When building your resume, the right wording is essential to stand out to employers.

I’m not saying lie – I actually strongly discourage lying.

However, you want to make sure your resume aligns with the responsibilities of the job. Initially, I had a difficult time landing a job as a telephonic case manager because I didn’t have any previous case manager experience.

The thing is, I did have case manager experience, but I didn’t convey that in my resume. As a bedside nurse I performed assessments, educated my patients on chronic illnesses, participated in interdisciplinary rounds, and assisted social workers with patient placement to a SNF or rehab.

That’s exactly what telephonic case managers do! Once I reworded my resume to describe how my role as a bedside nurse was similar to that of a case manager, I started getting interviews. Inevitably, I landed my first CM job within weeks.

TIP 3: Referrals

A referral can go a long way in helping you land the job you want. Getting a referral is very similar to networking, except your letting someone else do the praising for you.

I know what you’re thinking, what if you don’t have a friend who works in the area you’re looking to apply? So what?

Most establishments offer their employees a small bonus for referrals that end up accepting an offer.

In most cases, all you have to do is ask someone to refer you, you don’t have to know them very well – or at all.

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