Operating Room Nurse Interview Questions

Operating Room Nurses are registered nurses who provide care for patients before, during, and after surgeries. They care for surgical patients outside of sterile operating rooms and assist with surgical instruments and equipment inside operating suites. They may work at hospitals or other medical facilities.

Whether you're a job seeker preparing to be interviewed for the role of Operating Room Nurse or an employer preparing to interview candidates for Operating Room Nurse position, these Operating Room Nurse interview questions will help you prepare yourself for the job interview session.

Operating Room Nurse Interview Questions

Below are a list of some skill-based Operating Room Nurse interview questions.

1. What would you do if you noticed a surgical tool had been left inside a patient’s body after a procedure?
2. Which surgical procedures have you performed as an operating room nurse?
3. What instructions and advice would you give post-appendectomy patients?
4. What would you do if you noticed the sterile field was contaminated?
5. What are three things you should always ask a patient before surgery?
6. How would you prepare a patient for a tracheotomy/other surgical procedure?
7. Anxious parents demand to see their son in the recovery room. How do you react?
8. How would you react if you saw there was something wrong with the patient’s vital signs during surgery?
9. Imagine you had to prepare the operating room for a patient with latex allergy. How would you do it?
10. Imagine you had to prepare for an operation you don’t have experience with. What do you do?
11. How has your experience prepared you for this role?
12. Tell me about a time when you noticed post-surgery complications. What happened?
13. In what types of operations do you have experience as a perioperative nurse?
14. Give me an example of a break in the sterile technique
15. What’s a “time out”?
16. There is a risk of infection when performing certain surgeries. How would you reassure a patient and their family about infection risks before performing a surgery?
17. What are the legal aspects of a perioperative nurse’s role?
18. Can you explain the use of a surgical safety checklist?
19. In your experience, which sterile techniques are often overlooked? Why?
20. Why is surgical skin preparation important and how would you do it?
21. What do you find more satisfying in an OR job?
22. Can you describe electronic patient management systems you are familiar with?
23. Tell me about a time a patient was anxious or panicked before surgery. What steps did you take to calm them?
24. Describe a time you spotted an inefficiency of the operating room. What was it and what did you do to fix it?
25. Recall a time you had a conflict with a surgeon or nurse. How did you resolve it?
26. Tell me about the biggest challenge you’ve faced in the past as a nurse
27. What are some of the most important qualities for an operating room nurse to have?
28. How would you describe the relationship between an operating room nurse and a surgeon?
29. What is the most important thing for an operating room nurse to remember during a surgery?
30. Provide an example of a time when you had to deal with a patient or family member who was upset about a surgery outcome.
31. If a patient needed to be anesthetized for a procedure, what type of anesthesia would you recommend?
32. We want our operating room nurses to be able to work on their own. How would you handle a situation where you needed to administer anesthesia or prepare a patient for surgery without assistance?

Operating Room Nurse Interview Questions and Answers

Every interview is different and the questions may vary. However, there are lots of general questions that get asked at every interview.

Below are some common questions you'd expect during Operating Room Nurse interviews. Click on each question to see how to answer them.

1. Why Do You Want This Job?
2. Tell Me About Yourself
3. What Is Your Greatest Accomplishment?
4. What is Your Salary Expectation?
5. Why Should We Hire You?
6. Why Do You Want To Leave Your Current Job?
7. Are You a Leader or a Follower?
8. Do You Have Any Questions for Us?
9. What is Your Greatest Weakness?
10. What is Your Greatest Strength?