Registered Nurse (RN) - Emergency Department
Posted Sep 2, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Sep 20, 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.
Behavioral
Tell me about a time you had a patient who was crashing while you had three or four other patients waiting on you. What did you do first and who did you pull in for help.
how the candidate manages competing critical demands and whether they escalate and delegate appropriately
Tell me about a time a patient or family member became verbally aggressive or physically threatening. What did you do in the moment and afterward.
de-escalation skill and awareness of safety protocols in a high-acuity, high-volume ED
Describe a time you caught a change in a patient's condition that others might have missed. What tipped you off.
clinical judgment and pattern recognition, key for early deterioration detection
Tell me about a time you disagreed with a physician's plan of care for a patient. What did you do.
whether the nurse advocates for patients through appropriate channels without being either passive or combative
We have a mentor and mentee program here and a shared governance structure. Have you been part of something like that, either as a mentor or on a unit council, and what did you actually contribute.
genuine engagement with unit culture and willingness to invest beyond the bedside, not just interest in the perk
What draws you to a high-acuity ED like this one over a smaller or lower-volume department.
realistic expectations about the pace and intensity of a 200-patient-a-day quaternary care ED
Technical
This is a comprehensive stroke center. Walk me through what you'd do from the moment a possible stroke patient rolls through the door to getting them to CT.
actual working knowledge of stroke alert protocol and door-to-needle time expectations
We're also a chest pain accredited and Level 3 trauma center. How do you approach a patient presenting with chest pain versus a trauma activation, in terms of your first five minutes with them.
clinical breadth across the ED's specific service lines, not just general ED experience
How do you keep track of your patients when you're carrying a full assignment in an ED this size, and something unexpected pulls you away for twenty minutes.
organizational systems and safety nets the nurse uses to avoid dropped tasks
Situational
Walk me through how you triage a patient when the waiting room is full and you get a new ambulance call that a stroke alert is coming in.
whether the candidate can prioritize under real ED volume pressure using acuity-based decision making, not just protocol recitation
You've got a patient who's been boarding in the ED for hours waiting on an inpatient bed, and their condition is subtly changing. How do you handle that.
vigilance and reassessment skills with boarded patients, a common reality in a 60-bed unit seeing 200+ patients a day
How do you handle report and handoff when the department is at capacity and the incoming nurse is already getting slammed with new arrivals.
communication discipline during shift change under pressure, where dropped information causes real harm
You're 12 weeks into orientation on nights, and you get a patient presentation you've never handled solo before. Walk me through what you do.
insight into their own limits and comfort asking for help, relevant given they are hiring tenured nurses into a structured orientation
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As published by Advocate Health.
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