NHS band 5

[Blueshmoo]

Any advice for an interview?

What's the job? I'm a Band 5, but I work in an administrative based position. The advice would be very different for exalple if you were interviewing for a Band 5 midwife post!

Entry grade nurse 😁

Sorry, in an out patient clinic.

Look at STAR interview techniques.. get some examples in your mind, look at the trust you will be working values mission statement type things. Its a common question..

Good luck!

Nmc code of conduct.
Trust qualities
BLS
Working within a team
How you communicate.

Definitely STAR technique for your answers with some good scenarios in mind

Look at the job and person spec and have a think about the main things they said they're looking for in a candidate. Try to convey that you have these qualities in your answer. The first question will probably be something like "why did you apply" so definitely have a great answer planned for this question with those qualities in mind, maybe quickly state your skills, qualities and experience and how relevant they are to the job.

I'm my trust we ask about 7 main questions in an interview. 4 which the hiring managers write and set the scoring criteria for. 3 that are referred to as the HR questions which are basically a big list of questions and we have to ask one from each category. These questions are on the intranet freely for staff to see but I am on mat leave right now. I think the categories are something along the lines of "compassion and respect" "working with others" and "innovation" (I. E. Process improvement) for these 3 categories you can basically plan a scenario and use it for almost all of the questions in that category.

Hope that's useful!

Be able to quote the domains of the CQC and the Trust Values, and give examples about how you would adhere to these.

Expect to be asked scenario based questions. I'm in a mental health Trust and band 5s are very often asked about what they would do when they become aware of a safeguarding issue.

Be able to talk about your personal values and where they come from.

Definitely NMC code of conduct. I was asked questions about that.
Also asked about what steps to take in a medication error (ward based job) I can't remember what else.
Make sure you know what clinics you will cover, so know a bit about each specialty.

Mention patients in the first part of your first answer!

Keep in mind that NHS interviews are points based. So whatever question they ask you, they want to be able to check off certain things they would expect you to know on that topic.

So for example if they ask you about a patient with out of range vital signs, they might want you to mention knowing what is normal for the patient, news scoring, escalating, reassessing, documentation, follow up etc.

Or they might ask about pressure sores and again it's stuff like risk assessment, documentation (again), reporting, holistic assessment, nutrition, equipment, referrals etc.

Or signs of abuse it would be things like safeguarding, mental capacity, knowing what to do.

Good general themes for first jobs are knowledge of the nursing process, holistic assessment, knowing legal guidelines, policies and procedures, nmc code, seminal reports (eg mid staffs), 6 c's, also general issues in the nhs, they might well ask you about Covid and how it has changed how you work. They also tend to be hot on improving practice/quality initiatives so try to think of some way, however small, you have changed or improved practice (or just make one up)

Good luck!

What brilliant information, thank you All.

The importance of accurate documentation.
Able to use your own knowledge and skills but not afraid to ask for help when unsure or needed.
Look at your local trust values.
6 Cs.