Interviewing a Register Nurse
Students applying for admission to the Generic track of the Professional Nursing program at Jersey College must complete a reflective essay. The reflective essay involves interviewing a Registered Nurse and presenting the interview in an essay form. If you do not know a Registered Nurse your admission representative will assist you with identifying an interviewee. Students should use the questions below for the interview in developing the essay. Students may ask questions in addition to the ones below but should keep the interview limited to no more than one hour. The essay must include responses to the following questions: 1. Why did you choose nursing as a profession? 2. What was nursing school like for him or her? Ask them: o · How they managed and balanced work, family and life and the difficulties o · The level of commitment to school required to be successful (hrs. required for studying, social life, workload, etc.) o · What their clinical and lab experiences were like o · How they prepared for examinations and the NCLEX 3. Describe their top three patient memories and why they are memorable 4. What does the phrase NurseLife mean to this nurse? 5. What is the hardest thing about being a nurse? 6. Reflect and discuss what your thoughts are about the interview. Did the interview change your perspective on nursing, on nursing school or life? In asking the questions above, be sure to ask your nurse to be specific and provide examples and stories. Please do not use any identifying information (i.e., names, relatives, etc.) about any patients discussed during the interview in your essay. For each question limit your answers to no more than 2,000 characters (per question). The essay must be TYPED and should be singled spaced.