RN Inpatient- Surgical Abdominal/ENT- PT Days
Posted Jul 30, 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
You work with general surgery, plastics, nephrology, GI, palliative medicine and more. Tell me about a time you had to coordinate between two services that disagreed.
What they are checking: Whether they can get clear orders when several teams are involved instead of letting a patient fall between them.
How do you talk with a palliative patient's family when they are asking whether their loved one is dying?
What they are checking: Whether they can be honest and gentle at the same time and know when to bring in the palliative team.
This is a part-time role with varied shifts. How do you make sure your patients get the same quality of care no matter which shift you're on?
What they are checking: Whether they stay reliable and connected to the unit even without a fixed schedule.
Tell me about a time you made a mistake or a near miss in your nursing practice. What happened next?
What they are checking: Whether they report errors honestly and learn from them, which is the base of a safe unit.
What would you do
4 North takes abdominal, ENT and complex wound patients plus four palliative beds. How would you shift your thinking between a fresh post-op patient and a palliative patient in the same assignment?
What they are checking: Whether they can switch between recovery-focused care and comfort-focused care without mixing up the goals.
This unit admits and discharges a lot of people for scheduled procedures. How do you keep up with discharges without rushing patient teaching?
What they are checking: Whether they can handle fast turnover and still send patients home knowing what to watch for.
A post-op patient refuses to get out of bed because of pain. How do you handle it?
What they are checking: Whether they can balance pain control with early movement, which prevents clots and pneumonia.
About the work
What are the first signs you watch for in a patient after abdominal surgery that something is going wrong?
What they are checking: Whether they know early signs of bleeding, infection, ileus or a leak and act before they become emergencies.
A patient comes back from ENT surgery. What is your biggest concern in the first few hours and how do you watch for it?
What they are checking: Whether they put airway and bleeding at the top of the list for head and neck surgery patients.
Tell me about your experience caring for complex wounds. How do you decide when to call wound care or the surgeon?
What they are checking: Whether they can assess a wound accurately and know when it is beyond routine dressing changes.
How do you manage a nasogastric tube or a drain on a surgical patient, and what would make you worried about either one?
What they are checking: Whether they know the basic care of common surgical lines and can tell normal output from a problem.
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Practice this out loudThe full job description
As published by Sanford Health.