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Children's Nursing, BCU interview

Hi there,
I've been invited to attend an interview for children's nursing and I was just reading through the details provided but was a bit unsure about a certain section. Could anyone shed any light on this so I can prepare?
It says that as part of the selection day there will be a 'Responce to service user recorded on IPad'.
Am I being really stupid here and it's obvious or what? I'm not sure.
Also, anyone who has been there for an interview for children's nursing, I'd appreciate any helpful tips or heads up about the questions they will ask and how hard the tests are, etc.
thanks

Reply 1

PaediatricStN

Original post by ARH1788

I was never interviewed by BCU, however it sounds as if there will be a child or teenager who is a regular user of children's healthcare services, involved in questioning you, or in some form of simple communication task.

You will be expected to respond to/communicate with them in a child friendly way which is appropriate to their age and understanding. Many children or teenagers who have a lot of experience of healthcare will have an exceptional understanding, and almost talk to you about their condition like an adult would, whereas others will still need child-friendly communication methods, but this will be down to you to judge at the time.

Interviews can take a variety of formats. Some universities do individual interviews, some do group interviews while others will do a combination of both of these. In an individual interview you may be asked questions such as why you want to do nursing, what nursing is, and be asked to provide examples of times when you have dealt with a stressful situation or shown compassion etc. You could well be asked about the NMC Code of Conduct (2015) and the NHS Constitution (2013) so make sure you understand what these are, what the key principles of them are, and why they are important.

If you are not asked about them, it is always good to include them in your answers as it shows you have researched well. Make sure you are non-discriminatory in your answers and show compassion and care towards the service users in any hypothetical scenarios you may be given. A quick Google search will show you some common questions. Studential provide a good list. Practice answers to all of these.

In a group interview, you may be given a group discussion task, such as "What are the most 3 important qualities of a nurse?" or something topical that has been in the news recently. You will be observed doing this task, with your ideas, team working and communication skills scrutinised by the observers. The tip here is to involve yourself enough, but to also listen to the other team members. Make the effort to involve others who are less vocal too - as that will look good.

Also through the selection process, are maths and English tests. The pass marks and actual tasks set vary, however there are sample maths papers online you can do. I have a website with lots of resources and help on, which I can't link to here, but if you would like this, please DM me.

I hope that helps!!!
Joel :smile: