PACU Nurse Interview Questions 👑
PACU interviews are clinical. The manager wants to know one thing: when a fresh post-op drops their sats at minute four, do you reach for the jaw thrust or do you freeze? Here is how to prove you do not freeze.
Clinical questions you should expect
Answer these with your assessment order out loud. Managers are listening for a system, not a memorized fact.
- Your patient arrives from the OR snoring with sats dropping to 86%. Walk me through your first two minutes.
- How do you know a patient is ready for phase I discharge?
- What is your approach to a patient in 9-out-of-10 pain who is also over-sedated?
- Describe how you manage PONV and what you escalate when first-line antiemetics fail.
- A post-op patient becomes hypotensive and tachycardic. What are you thinking about and who do you call?
- What would make you refuse to send a patient to the floor?
- How do you handle emergence delirium in an adult versus a pediatric patient?
How to answer the airway question
This one decides the interview. Say it in the order you would actually do it, and name the equipment.
- Stimulate and reposition first — head tilt chin lift or jaw thrust, and call the patient's name.
- Increase oxygen delivery and place an oral or nasal airway if the obstruction persists.
- Call for help early. Say the words 'I am calling anesthesia' — managers wait to hear it.
- Consider the cause: residual paralytic, opioid, laryngospasm, or OSA baseline.
- Anticipate reversal — naloxone or sugammadex per order — and know where it lives on your unit.
- Stay with the patient, keep the monitor on, and document the timeline after the patient is stable.
Behavioral questions, answered with STAR
Situation, Task, Action, Result. Keep each answer under 90 seconds and end with what changed because of you.
- Tell me about a time you disagreed with a physician about a patient.
- Describe a time you caught someone else's error.
- How do you handle a surgeon pressuring you to move a patient who is not ready?
- Tell me about the worst handoff you have received and what you did.
- How do you prioritize when three patients arrive within ten minutes?
- What do you do when a family member becomes hostile in the recovery bay?
What to ask them
Ask at least three. A candidate with no questions reads as a candidate who will not speak up on the unit.
- What is the typical nurse-to-patient ratio in phase I here, and how does it change after hours?
- How long is orientation for a nurse coming from my background, and who precepts?
- Do you take pediatric and cardiac cases, and how are those assignments made?
- What does the call schedule look like, and how often does it get used?
- Do you support CPAN certification, and does the unit cover the exam fee?
- What is the most common reason a new PACU nurse struggles here in the first six months?
Frequently asked
What questions are asked in a PACU nurse interview?
Expect clinical scenarios first: airway obstruction on arrival, hypotension in a fresh post-op, uncontrolled pain with over-sedation, PONV, and phase I discharge criteria. Behavioral questions follow, usually about conflict with a surgeon, catching an error, and prioritizing multiple arrivals.
Can a new grad get hired into PACU?
Yes, though many units prefer one to two years of ICU, ER, or med-surg first. New grads who get hired usually have a PACU or perioperative clinical rotation, ACLS already in hand, and can talk through an airway emergency step by step in the interview.
How do I answer the Aldrete score question?
Name the five categories — activity, respiration, circulation, consciousness, oxygen saturation — say each is scored 0 to 2, and state that most units require 9 or 10 plus a stable airway and controlled pain before phase I discharge. Then add that you follow your facility's specific threshold.
What should I wear to a PACU nurse interview?
Business professional, not scrubs, unless the manager specifically told you the interview includes a unit shadow. Bring printed copies of your resume, license, and certification cards.
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