Registered Nurse (RN) - Post Surgical
Posted Sep 16, 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 noticed a patient's condition was changing before it showed up clearly in the vital signs.
clinical judgment and pattern recognition, since this unit takes stepdown patients from SICU who can deteriorate quickly
Tell me about a time a family member was upset about the plan of care and how you handled it.
communication skill and composure under stress with patients and families in a fast-paced setting
This unit has a strong shared governance culture where nurses have a real voice in daily operations. Tell me about a time you raised a concern about a process on your unit and what happened.
fit with a culture that expects nurses to speak up and participate in unit decisions, not just follow orders
If you're new to this kind of high-acuity surgical unit, what's your plan for building competence and confidence in your first few months?
self-awareness and learning orientation, since the unit explicitly welcomes new grads
Tell me about a time you had to push back on a plan of care you disagreed with.
willingness to advocate for patients while still working within a team, which matters on a unit with strong nurse-driven culture
Technical
Walk me through how you'd do a full assessment on a patient who just came up from PACU after a bowel resection.
whether the candidate has a systematic post-op assessment process and knows what to prioritize in the first hour on the unit
A patient's telemetry shows a new arrhythmia at 2 a.m. What do you do first, and who do you call?
knowledge of escalation protocol and comfort acting independently overnight when backup is thinner
What's your approach to preventing complications like DVT, pneumonia, or wound infection in a surgical patient during the first 48 hours?
grounding in evidence-based post-surgical care bundles, since that's the core of this unit's work
Situational
You're covering five patients on nights and two of them are fresh post-op with telemetry monitoring. How do you decide who you check on first and how do you keep up with everything else on your list?
prioritization skill and comfort managing a high-acuity assignment without dropping tasks
How do you manage post-op pain for a patient who says their pain is a 9 out of 10 but their vitals look stable and they're due for surgery follow-up in the morning?
balance of patient advocacy, pain management protocol knowledge, and clinical skepticism
How would you handle a patient who is confused or trying to pull out lines after surgery, especially overnight when staffing is lighter?
safety judgment and de-escalation skill given the physical requirements around restraints and patient handling mentioned in the posting
How do you keep yourself and your team steady through a busy overnight shift with every third weekend and holiday rotations, without burning out?
realistic self-assessment of stamina and commitment to the specific schedule being offered
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As published by Advocate Health.
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