Registered Nurse (RN) - Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU)
Posted Sep 15, 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 a patient's airway became compromised while they were recovering from anesthesia. What did you do?
hands-on experience managing a real airway emergency and staying calm under pressure
Tell me about a time you had to manage a patient who woke up combative or confused from anesthesia.
skill in de-escalation and keeping both the patient and staff safe during emergence delirium
Describe a time you caught a problem with pain management or medication dosing right after surgery before it became serious.
clinical vigilance and comfort speaking up to anesthesia or surgical teams
Tell me about a time you had to give a family member difficult news or manage their anxiety while their loved one was still unstable in recovery.
communication skills with families under stress, which matters heavily in a fast-turnover recovery unit
This role includes call and rotating start times between 6a and 9a. How have you handled unpredictable scheduling in past roles?
realistic expectations and reliability around the specific scheduling demands of this job
Technical
Walk me through how you assess a patient in the first few minutes after they arrive in PACU from the OR.
whether the candidate has a systematic, standardized approach to airway, breathing, circulation, and level of consciousness right after handoff
How do you decide when a patient meets discharge criteria to move from PACU to the floor or home?
familiarity with standard scoring tools like Aldrete and whether judgment is grounded in objective criteria, not just gut feel
What's your experience with ACLS and PALS in real situations, not just certification renewal?
whether certifications reflect actual applied skill rather than a checkbox
Situational
A patient in your bay starts showing signs of malignant hyperthermia. What do you do first, and who do you call?
knowledge of a rare but high-stakes protocol and whether they know the chain of escalation without hesitating
This unit covers PACU, Same Day Surgery, and Pre-Op depending on staffing needs. How do you handle being moved between different types of patient care on short notice?
flexibility and whether they can quickly reorient to different acuity levels and workflows
You have three patients recovering at once and one starts trending toward hypotension while another is ready for report to the floor. How do you prioritize?
triage skills and ability to manage competing demands without losing track of any one patient
How do you approach handoff communication with the anesthesiologist and surgeon when something didn't go as expected in the OR?
whether they can advocate for the patient and communicate clearly across disciplines without friction
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As published by Advocate Health.
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