Emergency Room (ER) nurses work in a facility's emergency department (ED). They often see patients with severe or life-threatening conditions requiring urgent action. As one of the first responders of the ED, ER nurses must be able to work quickly and efficiently to make the right decisions under pressure. When hiring for this role, it's important to ask targeted ER nurse interview questions to find candidates with these essential qualities.
To help you recruit the best nurses for your emergency department, we'll walk you through the top interview questions to ask and discuss ways to evaluate your candidates' answers. Along with insights from current ER nurse job postings and a well-written ER nurse job description, you’ll be well equipped to connect with candidates who can confidently navigate your interview questions.
When you’re ready, the candidate evaluation template below can help keep your interviews both efficient and effective.
7 Interview Questions for ER Nurse Candidates
As you prepare to conduct your interview process, keep in mind that top ER nurse candidates can have varying levels of experience. Regardless of whether you're interviewing a seasoned nurse or a new grad, ER nurse interview questions should assess how well candidates can handle the demands of this specialty. These seven questions will help you get a sense of how a candidate fits into the pace and environment of the ED.
1. What brought you to ER nursing?
This is a great question to open with because it allows the candidate to share a bit about their personal journey while hinting at their motivations for entering this specialty. The ED is a high stress-environment that isn't suited for everybody. It's important that candidates demonstrate an understanding of this and hold a genuine interest to take on such fast-paced work.
What to listen for:
- Alignment with your facility’s mission, values, and long-term objectives
- An understanding of what to expect from a typical day in the ED
Potential follow-up questions:
- How does this job contribute to your long-term career goals?
- What excites you the most about joining our emergency department?
2. What strategies do you use to prioritize care for multiple patients?
The ED is less predictable than many other types of units. Nurses must triage multiple patients at a time and be highly skilled in organizing care tasks under pressure.
This question allows you to assess skills in time management and prioritization, both of which are essential in this specialty. A candidate's answer can clue you into how well they've developed a process for handling multiple tasks throughout their past clinical experience.
What to listen for:
- A focus on safety when prioritizing care tasks
- Willingness to seek help when needed
Potential follow-up questions:
- Do you use any specific time-management tools (like a nurse brain sheet)?
- Who would you turn to for assistance if you were worried about a patient’s condition?
3. How would you handle an angry or upset patient/family member?
The ED can be a chaotic environment for both staff and patients. Because of this, it's common for family members or patients to become upset or angry at staff. ER nurses must be adept at not only dealing with urgent care tasks, but also tending to interpersonal conflicts in a respectful and professional manner.
This question allows you to assess how a candidate may react to these situations. Listen for answers that indicate a nurse's ability to remain calm but assertive in highly stressful situations.
What to listen for:
- Compassion and understanding that high-stress situations can drive distress
- A professional demeanor and strong communication skills
Potential follow-up questions:
- Have you ever participated in de-escalation training?
- Can you tell me about a time when you successfully redirected a growing conflict with a patient or their family members.
4. What's your process for keeping up with the latest evidence on ER care delivery?
ER nursing is a specialty that requires a strong handle on evidence-based practices. Many candidates may have learned how to apply these practices from nursing school or through past clinical experience. However, this question can help you identify candidates who go above and beyond in keeping up with the latest best practices.
What to listen for:
- Clinical curiosity and a commitment to ongoing learning
- References to specific journals or reputable sources for staying updated
Potential follow-up questions:
- Have you ever been involved in a clinical initiative to improve care quality?
- Do you have, or would you be willing to obtain your emergency nursing certification?
5. Tell me about a time when you had to solve a crisis situation alongside a team.
ER nursing interview questions (and answers that reveal a collaborative spirit) can help you gauge a candidate's ability to be a team player. Since the ED can be unpredictable, the entire care team must be able to effectively communicate and rely on one another.
This question allows you to assess a candidate's ability to work collaboratively and hear a real-world example of how they apply teamwork into practice. Pay attention to how candidates describe their communication style and take input from their colleagues into account.
What to listen for:
- Recognition of each multidisciplinary team member’s role and value
- Willingness to accept feedback as a mechanism for enhanced interprofessional collaboration
Potential follow-up questions:
- Can you explain the nurse chain-of-command to me and its day-to-day significance?
- Tell me about a time that you had a conflict with a co-worker and how you resolved it.
6. What would you do if you were given conflicting information about a patient who is in critical condition?
While the ED is built off of teamwork, there may also be urgent situations that require independent thinking. Due to the pace of the environment, ER nurses must know how and when to take agency over situations with minimal supervision.
This question allows you to assess how comfortable a candidate is in making independent decisions when necessary. Listen for answers that showcase a candidate's ability to remain calm and confident while staying within their scope of practice.
What to listen for:
- Clinical expertise and confidence in assessing patient conditions
- Knowledge of how to activate emergency alert systems within the hospital
Potential follow-up questions:
- What steps do you take to ensure effective, accurate communication when providing patient care?
- Have you ever made a medical error? How did you fix the situation?
7. As an ER nurse, you may be dealing with emotionally difficult situations on a daily basis. What strategies do you use to practice self-care and cope with these scenarios long-term?
Being an ER nurse takes a lot of grit. A candidate who takes on this role should also be prepared to face the emotional intensity of this environment. Not only does this question provide transparency about the role, but it also allows you to assess a candidate's coping skills and openness to dealing with difficult situations on a daily basis.
What to listen for:
- Actionable strategies for protecting emotional wellbeing and manage stress
- Awareness of the prevalence of burnout among ED nurses
Potential follow-up questions:
- What would you do if you suspected a colleague was suffering from compassion fatigue?
- Would you ever be interested in participating with Schwartz Rounds at our facility?
Need Help Finding the Right Candidates to Interview?
The right ER nurse interview questions will get you to the right hire, but everything depends on first getting the right candidates. If you're ready to move past the costly, time-consuming process of finding clinicians, Credenza is here to help. With our industry-leading, clinician-focused job board, we frontload credential collection and leverage AI-matching technology so you can connect with the best-matched candidates near you.