It's the start of your shift and you have five patients. How do you decide who to see first?

What the interviewer is looking for

• This question tests clinical prioritisation. Uses airway, breathing, circulation and acuity to rank needs, delegates appropriately, and re-prioritises as conditions change.
• Strong answers: Uses report and acuity, airway, breathing and circulation, unstable before stable, time-critical medications, and plans to reassess.
• Likely follow-up: What would make you change that order mid-shift?

Another way it may be asked: After report you have a fresh post-op patient, someone with pain, someone due for discharge and two stable patients. Where do you go first?

A structure to follow: Answer, explain, example, limits

1. Step 1

   Answer

   Give your direct answer in the first sentence so the interviewer knows where you are going.

2. Step 2

   Explain

   Say how it works or why you would do it that way, in plain words before jargon.

3. Step 3

   Example

   Anchor it in something you have actually done or seen, with the detail that shows hands-on experience.

4. Step 4

   Limits

   Say when your approach would not be the right one. It shows judgement.

This is guidance on shape, not a script. Use your own real experience and facts; never invent details to fill a gap. See the STAR guide and answer frameworks.

Common slips

• Reciting a definition without showing you have applied it.
• Using terms you cannot explain if asked a level deeper.
• Claiming experience beyond what you can discuss in detail.

How to practise it

Say the answer in 90 seconds, then answer the follow-up as if it were a new question.

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• You notice a colleague skipping hand hygiene between patients. What do you do?
• Tell me about a time you noticed a patient's condition changing before others did. What did you see and do?
• A physician dismisses your concern about a patient's vital signs. How do you handle it?

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