Occupational Therapist (OT) - Inpatient/Acute Care - PRN
Posted Jul 12, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 6, 2026
Likely interview questions for this role
Written from this job description, not a generic list. Each one notes what the interviewer is really checking.
About your past
Tell me about a time a patient's vitals or presentation changed during a session. What did you do?
What they are checking: Whether they know when to stop therapy and escalate, which matters in an acute care setting with unstable patients.
Tell me about a time you disagreed with a nurse or physician about a patient's readiness to mobilize or go home.
What they are checking: Whether they can advocate with clinical reasoning while keeping a working relationship with the rest of the care team.
What would you do
You're PRN, so you'll walk onto the floor with a caseload you've never seen. How do you get up to speed fast?
What they are checking: Whether a fill-in therapist can prioritize and gather key information quickly without needing a full handoff.
A patient refuses therapy for the second day in a row. How do you handle it?
What they are checking: Whether they respect patient choice while still trying to engage, and document the refusal properly.
How do you prioritize when you have more patients on your list than you can see in an eight-hour shift?
What they are checking: Whether they triage by discharge timing and clinical need rather than seeing patients in list order.
How would you teach a worried family member to help with safe transfers before discharge?
What they are checking: Whether they can teach in plain language and check that the caregiver can actually do it safely.
About the work
Walk me through how you run an OT evaluation on a patient who came in yesterday after a stroke and is still pretty lethargic.
What they are checking: Whether they can adapt a standard evaluation to a fragile acute patient instead of forcing a full battery.
How do you decide what to recommend for discharge, home with family, inpatient rehab, or a skilled nursing facility?
What they are checking: Whether their discharge recommendations come from function and safety evidence, since case managers and physicians act on them.
What ADL training or adaptive equipment do you use most with acute care patients, and how do you choose it?
What they are checking: Whether they match equipment to the patient's actual home setup and abilities instead of issuing the same kit to everyone.
How do you keep your documentation timely and defensible when your day is packed with patients?
What they are checking: Whether their notes support skilled need and billing, since thin documentation creates problems for the hospital later.
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As published by HSHS.