7 Key Infection Control Nurse Interview Questions to Ask

Infection control nurses help prevent the spread of infections in hospitals to protect both patients and staff. These nurses typically take on more of a consulting role, guiding the implementation and adherence to appropriate infection control protocols. Since these duties require very specific expertise and strong decision-making skills, it’s important to ask a targeted list of infection control nurse interview questions to find the right person for this role.

To help you bring the best person onto your team, we’ll outline seven essential infection control interview questions for nurses and share tips for evaluating your candidate’s answers. Find top applicants to interview by preparing a targeted job description. You can also browse current infection control nurse job openings to learn how to make your facility stand out from others.

Download our free infection control nurse evaluation form below and use it to keep yourself organized during your next round of interviews.

Infection Control Interview Questions for Nurses

Since infection control nurses have a consulting-heavy role, you should focus on asking infectious disease interview questions that evaluate each candidate’s baseline knowledge and problem-solving skills. The following seven questions will help you properly vet your pool of candidates.

1. Why do you want to be an infection control nurse?

Starting the interview with open-ended infection control interview nurse questions like this can be a great way to break the ice and learn more about a candidate’s motivations. Infection control nurses spend a lot of time researching, analyzing, and educating others about infection prevention, so it’s important that they have a strong passion for this type of work.

What to listen for:

• Genuine interest in continuously learning and applying knowledge to help prevent the spread of infections
• Preference in playing a more “behind-the-scenes” and research-heavy role over direct patient-care

Potential follow-up questions:

• What do you think are the most important responsibilities of an infection control nurse?
• What qualities do you think every infection control nurse should have?

2. Can you tell me about a time you helped shape a protocol that reduced infection rates?

This question evaluates how a candidate applies their infection control knowledge and skills in practice. You can get an idea of what successful projects they’ve been a part of in the past, and any pertinent challenges that they had to learn to overcome.

What to listen for:

• Ability to successfully develop and assess the impact of infection control practices
• Experience collaborating with other healthcare professionals and leaders

Potential follow-up questions:

• How do you motivate staff to adhere to appropriate protocols?
• What new evidence-based strategies or technologies are you interested in implementing in the future?

3. What types of resources do you use to inform your infection control practices?

As an infection control nurse, a candidate must be prepared to become an expert in their field. Staff, patients, and department leaders will be turning to them for guidance, and they’ll be expected to continuously build their knowledge and stay on top of evidence-based practices.

What to listen for:

• Knowledge of evidence-based sources such as the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO)
• Interest in continuous learning opportunities, such as conferences and seminars

Potential follow-up questions:

• How do you stay informed of new infections/disease outbreaks in the community?
• Are you familiar with the CDC’s latest guidelines on standard precautions?

4. What strategies do you use to educate and train staff on new infection control protocols?

Beyond being adept problem-solvers, infection control nurses must also be engaging teachers. They’re often tasked to provide staff training, in-services, and educational workshops to help keep everyone at the hospital informed about infection control practices.

What to listen for:

• Comfort and confidence in teaching and guiding healthcare professionals of all levels
• Diverse teaching methods (simulations, hands-on, scenario-based) that make training effective for all types of learners

Potential follow-up questions:

• What would you do if you noticed a staff member was breaking protocol?
• How do you keep patients, families, and visitors informed on infection control protocols?

5. How do you evaluate the effectiveness of existing infection control protocols?

In order to improve existing protocols, candidates must be able to identify what’s working and what needs to be refined. Thus, it’s important to ask infection control nurse interview questions that evaluate skills in collecting, analyzing, and responding to relevant data.

What to listen for:

• Effective and appropriate strategies used to gather information and feedback
• Emphasis on regularly reviewing and measuring the impact of infection control protocols

Potential follow-up questions:

• What strategies do you use to monitor staff compliance with protocols?
• What would you do if you noticed that there was a shortage of PPE at the facility?

6. What’s your process for tracking and reporting new cases of infection?

Infection control nurses are often responsible for monitoring the prevalence and types of infectious diseases that are impacting patients and/or staff across a hospital. This question assesses a candidate’s familiarity with common tracking and reporting practices.

What to listen for:

• Experience with tracking/documentation systems such as electronic health records (EHRs) and electronic case reporting systems (ECRs)
• Understanding of how mandatory reporting laws impact infectious disease tracking

Potential follow-up questions:

• Do you have any professional experience with contact tracing?
• Why is it important to report disease outbreaks to public health agencies?

7. What would you do if you noticed that infection rates were increasing in one unit of the hospital?

Infection control nurses often oversee and implement policies across several different departments within a hospital. As such, they should be comfortable identifying unit-based issues and collaborating with department heads appropriately. Asking situation-based infection control nurse interview questions is a great way to evaluate these skills.

What to listen for:

• Strong analytical and deductive reasoning skills that allow candidates to quickly identify the root cause of an issue
• Ability to proactively investigate and get ahead of issues contributing to infection

Potential follow-up questions:

• What’s your general process for investigating and gathering information to identify sources of hospital-acquired infections?
• How do you collaborate with department heads to ensure that appropriate action plans and protocols get implemented?

Find Highly Qualified Nurses to Interview

Now that you have a go-to list of infection control nurse interview questions, you’re ready to bring in top candidates to interview. Want a strong talent pool to choose from? IntelyCare’s nationwide, nurse-only job board has the high-quality applicants you need.