HA255 Unit 4 CNA Structured Interview Guide Example

Eight Questions, One Scale and a List the Panel May Not Raise: A Structured Interview Guide for Hiring Certified Nursing Assistants at a Composite Skilled Nursing Facility, With Anchored Ratings Written Before the First Candidate Arrives

[Student Name]

Purdue University Global

HA255: Human Resources for Health Care Organizations

Unit 4 Interview Guide

[Instructor Name]

[Date]

The facility, the panel and the anchors are composite; the guide shows the form of a structured interview and is not legal advice for any employer.

Cover Sheet

Position: Certified Nursing Assistant, day and evening shifts Date: [date] Panel: Director of Nursing or designee; one charge nurse; one experienced nursing assistant Candidate number: [C-__] (names are kept on a separate sheet held by human resources)

Instructions to the Panel

Ask every candidate the same eight questions in the same order. Neutral prompts such as "What happened next?" or "What did you do then?" are allowed; new questions are not. Take notes on what the candidate says, not on impressions of the person. Rate each answer alone, before any discussion, using the anchors. Structure of this kind, the same questions, anchored scales and independent ratings, is what most improves the reliability and validity of interviews (Campion et al., 1997).

Why a Structured Interview

Across decades of selection research, interviews with a fixed script forecast how people will perform more accurately than free-form ones and add to what other measures such as work samples or ability tests already show (Schmidt & Hunter, 1998). For a role that turns over often, a guide also lets a facility compare candidates fairly across months and panels. A candidate's answer is scored against words the panel agreed on last week, not against the last candidate or the panel's mood.

Question 1: Behavioral, Resident Dignity

Duty: provides personal care while protecting privacy and choice. "Tell us about a time a resident refused care you were supposed to give. What did you do?" 1: Describes forcing or skipping the care without telling anyone. 3: Tried again later and told the nurse. 5: Asked the resident why, offered a choice of time or approach, tried again and reported to the nurse with what was learned.

Question 2: Behavioral, Reporting a Change

Duty: observes and reports changes in condition. "Describe a time you noticed something different about a resident. Who did you tell, and when?" 1: Did not report, or reported at end of shift. 3: Reported to the nurse during the shift. 5: Reported right away with specific observations, such as intake, skin or confusion, and followed up.

Question 3: Behavioral, Safe Transfers

Duty: transfers and repositions residents using lift equipment. "Tell us about a time a transfer did not go as planned." 1: Describes lifting alone against the care plan. 3: Stopped and got help. 5: Stopped, got help, checked the care plan or equipment and suggested a change afterward.

Question 4: Behavioral, Teamwork Under Short Staffing

Duty: completes assignments as part of a team. "Describe a shift when your unit was short. How did you handle your assignment?" 1: Blamed others or left tasks undone without telling anyone. 3: Prioritized and asked for help. 5: Prioritized safety tasks first, communicated what could not be done and helped a coworker when possible.

Question 5: Behavioral, Learning From an Error

Duty: follows facility procedures and reports incidents. "Describe an error of yours on the job. Who did you tell, and what changed?" 1: Cannot name one, or hid it. 3: Reported it. 5: Reported it, described what changed in their practice and could say what the system learned.

Question 6: Situational, Abuse Concern

Duty: protects residents from abuse and neglect. "You see a coworker speak roughly to a resident and pull her arm. What do you do?" 1: Ignores it or speaks only to the coworker. 3: Tells the charge nurse. 5: Makes sure the resident is safe, reports at once to the charge nurse or administrator as policy requires and writes down what was seen.

Question 7: Situational, Family Request

Duty: communicates with families within the role. "A daughter asks you why her father's medication was changed. What do you say?" 1: Explains the medication. 3: Says to ask the nurse. 5: Acknowledges the question, explains that the nurse can answer it and brings the nurse or tells the nurse right away.

Question 8: Situational, End of Shift

Duty: completes documentation and handoff. "Your shift ends in ten minutes, and a resident has just been incontinent. Your relief is late. What do you do?" 1: Leaves for the next shift to handle. 3: Provides the care and leaves. 5: Provides the care, documents it and gives a handoff to the charge nurse before leaving.

Subjects Left Off the Table

The panel may not ask about age, pregnancy or plans for children, religion, national origin, marital status or health conditions. Questions about disability or medical history are prohibited before an offer is made; the panel may ask only whether the candidate can perform the job's functions, with or without accommodation (29 C.F.R. § 1630.13, 2024). If a candidate raises one of these subjects, the panel listens, does not follow up and does not record it.

Scoring Sheet

Each panel member records a rating from one to five for each question, giving a possible total of [40]. Candidates below [24] are not offered the job. Ties are broken by the question 6 rating, because abuse reporting is the facility's highest priority.

Consensus Meeting

After each candidate, the panel compares ratings. Where ratings differ by two or more points, each rater explains the evidence from the notes, and raters may change a score only for a reason tied to the anchors. The final rating is the average.

Retention of Records

Interview notes and scoring sheets are filed with human resources and kept for at least [one] year, or longer if a charge is filed or state rules require it.

After the Interview

Human resources checks the state nurse aide registry and references before any offer is made, and the candidate number on the scoring sheet is linked back to the name only at that stage.

References

Campion, M. A., Palmer, D. K., & Campion, J. E. (1997). A review of structure in the selection interview. Personnel Psychology, 50(3), 655-702. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.1997.tb00709.x

29 C.F.R. § 1630.13 (2024). https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-29/section-1630.13

Schmidt, F. L., & Hunter, J. E. (1998). The validity and utility of selection methods in personnel psychology: Practical and theoretical implications of 85 years of research findings. Psychological Bulletin, 124(2), 262-274. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.124.2.262