RN Inpatient- PACU- FT Days
Posted Jun 29, 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 several patients arrived in PACU at once. How did you manage?
What they are checking: Prioritization and teamwork when OR rooms finish at the same time and recovery bays fill up.
This role is nine-hour days, Monday through Friday, with rotating holidays. How does that fit for you?
What they are checking: Whether the schedule truly works for them, which predicts reliability and staying in the job.
Tell me about a time you noticed a post-op complication early. What tipped you off?
What they are checking: Real examples of catching bleeding, airway or cardiac problems before they became emergencies.
What would you do
A patient wakes up confused and combative and starts pulling at lines. What do you do?
What they are checking: Safely managing emergence delirium while protecting the patient and the staff.
A patient's family is anxious in the waiting room and keeps calling for updates. How do you handle that?
What they are checking: Clear communication with families while staying focused on recovering patients.
About the work
A patient arrives from the OR and is not breathing well and is hard to wake. Walk me through your first steps.
What they are checking: Airway management and fast response to respiratory depression, the most urgent risk in PACU.
What do you need to hear in handoff from anesthesia before you take a patient?
What they are checking: Whether they know which details from anesthesia and surgery drive safe recovery.
How do you decide a patient is ready to leave PACU?
What they are checking: Understanding of discharge criteria and scoring tools that keep patients from leaving too early.
How do you balance treating pain with the risk of oversedation in a fresh post-op patient?
What they are checking: Careful opioid titration and monitoring, which is a daily judgment call in recovery.
What would make you suspect malignant hyperthermia or another rare emergency in recovery, and what would you do?
What they are checking: Awareness of rare but deadly post-anesthesia complications and knowing how to respond fast.
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Practice this out loudThe full job description
As published by Sanford Health.