Interview Questions for Mental-Health Nursing

Psychiatric-mental health nurses deal with challenging behavior and the work demands a special kind of commitment. Nurses use a tremendous amount of mental energy and often must rely upon their powers of observation.

Dr. Ruth Stiehl, RN, PhD and vice president of clinical quality at PPR Healthcare in Jacksonville Beach, Fla., says nurses interviewing for positions in psychiatric-mental health should be ready for questions that cover a variety of interpersonal issues. “Nurses will be dealing with patients and families in crisis,” she says “It can be unpredictable, as well as extremely stressful.”

Stiehl suggests job candidates also should be prepared to answer these questions:

What kinds of patients have you worked with?

If you have mental health experience, here’s your chance to shine. If not, you’ll have to demonstrate a transferable skill set, e.g. how you’ve treated patients in critical situations, and a willingness to learn.

How do you approach dealing with families under stress?

Interviewers want to hire RNs who can work with patients and their families to assess mental-health needs, both immediate and long-term and then plan, implement and evaluate care. Patience, compassion and calm nerves of steel, combined with the ability to educate without condescension, are necessary traits.

Questions you should ask during the interview

What kind of orientation do you have?

Nurses in this field learn on the job. To be able to respond to a patient in crisis, you have to first have the hands-on experience of the event and then develop the skills and intuition to be creative in your approach. Learning in this environment takes time. If you don’t already have the tools, then the longer your orientation the better off you’ll be.

What kind of patients do you have?

Is the facility specific to bi-polar disorders, depression or addiction? Nurses also need to know if they will be treating violent patients. If ‘yes,’ your next question should be: What kind of security do you have?

What are your rules about medication, restraints, time out and seclusion?

Psychiatric patients require complex care. One psychotic won’t behave like another psychotic. Knowledge of how the facility works with patients on a daily basis and in crisis and how much leeway a nurse has in making decisions for those in her care is essential to the job.