How To Answer Learning Disability Nurse Interview Questions

“Make sure that your understanding of the role matches what the role involves. When answering a question such around what skills you’ll need as a Learning Disability Nurse, remember we work in such a wide variety of places.”

Learning Disability Nurse Lauren shares her tips on answering common interview questions for LD nursing, focusing on safeguarding, experience, and skills.

You’ve finally qualified as a Learning Disability Nurse. Next is the job search, and hopefully you will be invited to a job interview.

This article looks at some common interview questions for Learning Disability Nurses, and some suggestions on how you might answer them. Apart from the usual interview questions (such as “Why do you want to work here?”), Learning Disability Nurses can be asked some specific questions related to the profession.

Preparing For Your Interview

Before the interview, look carefully at the person specification. It will usually say whether you will be tested on something in the interview, or on your application form. If it says it is in the interview, this is where you should focus. For example, you could think of scenarios beforehand to talk about.

Do not assume you will remember all your experience in the interview, even if all your experience were your student placements. The pressure environment of a job interview can affect people in different ways, including their memory. Instead, jot down some examples and practise talking about these.

Sometimes, you will be told whether it is a scenario-based interview. This means questions could be something along the lines of “Tell me a time when this happened…”

You could use the STAR method for answering these. That is, Situation, Task, Action, and Result. You could think of some examples beforehand; however, it’s a good idea to make sure you do not sound too rehearsed. Make sure your answers flow and are honest.

Safeguarding

Here are a few examples of questions you might be asked around the topic of safeguarding:

• What would you do if there was a safeguarding incident?

• What experience do you have of safeguarding?

• Can you think of a time when you had to report a safeguarding incident?

• How would you report abuse?

• What are the main types of abuse?

• How has Winterbourne View affected learning disability nursing?

These are all questions you might be asked in interview.

Why Are These Questions Being Asked?

The interviewer is looking for your general knowledge and wants to make sure you would take the right action to protect their own service users. This is extremely important, so is probably not trying to catch you out.

You could answer them using examples from your placements, or previous work experience. Try to think of some examples before the interview so you are prepared.

They will also be looking at your legal knowledge in this area. There are certain procedures you need to follow for reporting safeguarding incidents. For instance, they might want to know if you reported any previous safeguarding incidents to your manager, or if you tried to manage it all yourself.

There are many laws around safeguarding that you should familiarise yourself with. For example, the Care Act (2014), Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act (2006), and the Health and Social Care Act (2012). There is different legislation for children and adults, so it is dependent on which role you are interviewing for, as this will determine which ones you need to be most familiar with.

You might also get a more specific question, such as those related to Winterbourne View or other such incidents. Check one hasn’t just happened by staying up to date with the news. Look into relevant policies like Time for Change, Winterbourne View Transforming Care, and Building the Right Support. It’s also a good idea to look at your local Transforming Care Delivery Programme, available on the NHS England website.

Even if you are not asked questions related to this, you could ask the interviewer at the end how the role fits into the Transforming Care Delivery Programme to show your knowledge.

Make sure that your understanding of the role matches what the role involves. When answering a question such around what skills you’ll need as a Learning Disability Nurse, remember we work in such a wide variety of places.

Experience

Next up is experience; here are some questions you might be asked on this subject:

• What experience do you have working with people who have learning disabilities?

• What experience can you bring to this role?

• Tell us about a time when…

Why Are These Questions Being Asked?

These questions are designed to assess what experience you have, and how this relates to the role you have applied for.

Remember your experience does not have to be directly relevant, otherwise no one would ever change job roles or explore new opportunities. However, it is important to stress what transferable skills and experience you have.

For example, if you are applying for a role in a care home, but have never worked in a care home before, you might have worked with a similar service user group. Remember to specify exactly what has it got to do with the role you are applying for. If there is something unique and personal that meant you were drawn to that role, can you link that to some specific, relevant experience?

Sometimes, it is appropriate to say honestly that you do not have experience in this specific role, however you have experience in a different role that is still relevant. Do not blag it and lie or exaggerate in the job interview.

Before your interview, read through the person specification and job role so you know what is expected of you.

They might ask specific questions such as “Tell us about a time when you dealt with challenging behaviour, or safeguarding, or staff members being inappropriate.”

Again, look at the person specification to try and predict what kinds of questions you will be asked so you can prepare situations you have been involved in. If you have no experience at all of what you are asked, you could talk hypothetically of what you would do were it to occur.

Skills

Finally, you may also be asked about your skills. Questions like these are common:

• What skills do you need to be a learning disability nurse?

• What skills do you need for this role?

• What skills do you bring to this role?

Why Are These Questions Being Asked?

Think about what specific skillset you have, and how this relates to the role. The interviewer is making sure you can actually do the job, after all.

They are also making sure that your understanding of the role matches what the role involves. When answering a question such around what skills you’ll need as a Learning Disability Nurse, remember we work in such a wide variety of places, this question could be difficult to answer succinctly.

Instead, think about what skills are needed for the specific role you are applying for. A Learning Disability Nurse working in a care home will have a different skillset from a Hospital Liaison Nurse, and a different one again from someone working with the police. They are really asking what skills you need for this particular role.

Likewise, when talking about your own skills, make sure they match the job you are interviewing for. Like personal statements, answers should be tailored to the job at hand.

Hopefully, this article has given you an insight into some questions you might be asked in a job interview, and how to answer them.

Good luck!

If you’re considering a career as a Learning Disability Nurse you can check out our job listings here, as well as our helpful salary guide.