LIKELY QUESTIONS

- What experience do you have providing pre-operative and post-operative care on a medical-surgical ward?
- How do you assess a post-operative patient and identify signs of deterioration or complications?
- Describe your approach to safe medication administration, including how you prevent medication errors.
- How do you prioritise care when you are responsible for several patients with changing clinical needs?
- What clinical documentation systems have you used, and how do you ensure your records are accurate and timely?
- Tell us about your experience collaborating with physicians, physiotherapists, pharmacists, and other members of a multidisciplinary team.
- What is your current German language level, and how are you preparing to communicate safely with patients and colleagues in German?
- Why do you want to relocate to Berlin and work in this medical-surgical nursing role, including completing the German licence recognition process?

BEHAVIOURAL QUESTIONS

- Tell us about a time you noticed a patient's condition deteriorating and took action.
Model approach: Situation: Briefly describe the patient and clinical setting. Task: Explain your responsibility for monitoring and escalation. Action: State the observations you identified, the assessment completed, who you notified, and the immediate interventions taken within your scope. Result: Explain the outcome, documentation completed, and what you learned about early escalation.

- Describe a time when you had to manage competing priorities during a busy shift.
Model approach: Situation: Describe the workload, such as multiple admissions, post-operative patients, or urgent care needs. Task: Explain your responsibility to maintain safe care for all patients. Action: Show how you triaged by acuity, delegated appropriately, communicated with the team, and reassessed priorities. Result: State how patient safety was maintained and what this demonstrates about your organisation.

- Give an example of a time you prevented or addressed a medication safety issue.
Model approach: Situation: Outline the prescription, patient, or medication concern. Task: Explain your duty to administer medications safely and raise concerns. Action: Describe the checks you performed, the discrepancy identified, how you paused administration, and how you clarified it with the prescriber or pharmacist. Result: Explain how harm was avoided and how the issue was documented or shared for learning.

- Tell us about a time you communicated with an anxious patient or family member.
Model approach: Situation: Describe the patient's condition and why the patient or family was worried. Task: Explain your responsibility to provide clear, compassionate, patient-centred communication. Action: Describe how you listened, used simple language, checked understanding, involved the appropriate clinician, and respected privacy. Result: Explain how this improved understanding, trust, comfort, or cooperation with care.

SMART QUESTIONS TO ASK

- Which patient groups, surgical specialties, and typical acuity levels are managed on this medical-surgical ward?
- What does the orientation and clinical onboarding programme look like for internationally recruited nurses?
- How does the hospital support nurses through licence recognition, adaptation periods, examinations, and language requirements?
- What German language support is available after arrival, particularly for clinical documentation and patient communication?
- What are the usual nurse-to-patient ratios, shift patterns, overtime expectations, and support available during busy shifts?

RED FLAGS TO WATCH FOR

- Unclear answers about licence recognition, including who pays for assessments, translations, adaptation training, examinations, and any costs if recognition takes longer than expected.
- Vague or inconsistent information about salary, shift differentials, working hours, overtime, probation period, accommodation, and deductions from pay.
- Pressure to sign quickly, pay recruitment or visa fees upfront, surrender original documents, or accept a contract without receiving the hospital name and full written terms.