Nurse phone screen questions for healthcare staffing recruiters
On this page
- Before you dial: what to have open
- License and compact questions
- Specialty, unit and patient assignment
- Certifications and how to verify them
- Shifts, contract terms, and travel versus perm
- Where RN experience gets overstated
- Knockout checklist and scorecard
- What not to ask a nurse on a screen
- Questions people ask
A nurse phone screen should confirm five things before anything else: an active license that covers the state of the job (including whether it is a compact license the nurse is actually eligible to hold), recent experience in the same specialty and unit type, the shifts the facility needs, current certifications, and a start date. The questions below cover each one, with what a strong answer sounds like and the red flags that should slow you down.
This bank is for RN screens in travel, per diem and permanent placements. For the general structure of any screen, see phone screen questions for recruiters; this page covers only what is specific to nursing.
Before you dial: what to have open
A good RN screen is mostly verification, so set up the checks before the call rather than after it.
- The requisition's hard requirements. Unit, specialty, minimum recent experience, shift, certifications, charting system, and whether the facility accepts new-to-travel nurses.
- Nursys QuickConfirm in a browser tab. It is free, and the NCSBN travel nurse FAQ points employers to its "Where does this nurse have the authority to practice" view. Not every board participates, so for the rest you check the state board's own lookup.
- The Nurse Licensure Compact map. As of September 2026 the NLC map lists 43 jurisdictions that have enacted the compact. Massachusetts and the U.S. Virgin Islands are shown as enacted but awaiting implementation, and Guam as partially implemented. Pennsylvania (July 2025) and Connecticut (October 2025) are among the most recent to implement. California, New York and Illinois are among the states shown as not in the compact.
- The pay package and contract terms for the job, so you can answer the questions the nurse will ask in the first two minutes.
License and compact questions
Most license problems come from a nurse describing their license the way it used to be, or the way they assume it works. The compact rules are specific: a multistate license belongs to a nurse whose primary state of residence (PSOR) is a compact state, as shown by legal documents such as a driver's license and voter registration. It does not cover APRN licenses. These points come from NCSBN's travel nurse FAQ.
| Question | What a strong answer sounds like | Red flags |
|---|---|---|
| Which state licenses do you hold, and which are active right now? | Lists each state, license type, and roughly when each renews, without having to look it up. | "I think Arizona is still active." Any license they are not sure about is one you verify before submitting. |
| Is your home state license multistate or single-state? | "Multistate, issued by Texas. I've lived in Texas for six years." They know the difference. | Claims a compact license while their legal residence is in a non-compact state. A nurse cannot hold a multistate license with a PSOR outside the compact. |
| Where is your primary state of residence, the one on your driver's license? | Same state as the multistate license, stated plainly. | A driver's license from a different state than the "compact" license. That mismatch can mean the multistate license is no longer valid for them. |
| Have you moved, or are you planning to move, in the next few months? | Knows that after relocating to a new compact state they have 60 days to apply there, and can keep practicing on the old multistate license until the new one is issued. | Moved to a non-compact state and still describes the license as multistate. NCSBN says that move converts it to single-state. |
| For this job in [state], which license will you work under? | Names it, or says they have applied for that state's single-state license and when they applied. | "My compact covers everywhere." It does not cover non-compact states, or states still awaiting implementation. |
| Has any board of nursing ever taken action on a license you hold, in any state? | A clear "no", or a direct explanation with dates and the outcome. | Hesitation followed by "nothing serious". Check Nursys before the submittal, not after the client does. |
Specialty, unit and patient assignment
"ICU experience" can mean a medical ICU at a trauma center or three months floating into a step-down unit. The client wants the first and will find out which it was on the first shift. Ask about the unit, not the specialty label.
| Question | What a strong answer sounds like | Red flags |
|---|---|---|
| Tell me about the unit you work on now: type, number of beds, the patients you usually get. | "A 24-bed medical ICU. Mostly sepsis, respiratory failure, post-arrest. We take overflow cardiac patients when CVICU is full." | Describes the hospital, not the unit. Can't name the patient population. |
| How many months have you worked in this specialty in the last two years, as a staff nurse, not floating? | A number with the dates, and they separate home unit from float time without being asked. | Total nursing years offered instead. Float pool counted as specialty experience. |
| What is a typical assignment on your unit, on days and on nights? | Gives a ratio for each and explains when it changes (for example, "one-to-one on a fresh open heart"). | Vague ("it depends") with no example. It usually means limited time on the unit. |
| Walk me through the drips, lines or equipment you manage without help. | Specific to the unit: titratable drips, arterial lines, CRRT, balloon pumps, fetal monitoring, depending on specialty. | A list read off the job ad, with no sense of which ones they handle independently. |
| Have you worked as charge nurse or preceptor? How often? | "Charge about one shift a week for the last year." Frequency, not just "yes". | Relief charge once or twice turned into "charge nurse" on the resume. |
| Which charting system do you chart in now, and which have you used before? | Names the system and version or module (Epic, Oracle Health/Cerner, MEDITECH) and how recently. | "All of them." Or a system they last used years ago listed as current. |
Certifications and how to verify them
Ask for every certification with its expiration month, then check the card rather than the resume. American Heart Association course completion cards (BLS, ACLS, PALS) are valid for two years, through the end of the month they were issued, and eCards can be checked through the AHA's course card information process. Specialty certifications are a different category: they are earned by exam and renewed on the certifying body's own cycle.
| Credential | Usually asked for on | Question to ask | Red flag |
|---|---|---|---|
| BLS | Every clinical role | "Is it AHA, and what month does it expire?" | An online-only course the facility may not accept; an expiry before the start date. |
| ACLS | ICU, ED, step-down, telemetry, PACU, cath lab | "When did you last renew, and was it the full course or the renewal?" | Lapsed and "booked for next month" with no date. |
| PALS / NRP | Pediatrics, PICU, NICU, L&D, mother-baby | "Which of the two does this unit require, and do you have it?" | Has PALS for a NICU job that asks for NRP. |
| TNCC | Emergency departments, trauma centers | "When did you take TNCC, and when does it lapse?" | Confuses it with ACLS. |
| CCRN, CEN, and similar specialty certifications | Preferred for critical care and ED roles; sometimes required | "Which specialty certification do you hold, and from which board?" | Lists a certification by acronym but cannot say which organization certified them. |
Shifts, contract terms, and travel versus perm
Schedule is where placements fall apart after the offer. Read the facility's actual requirements aloud and ask for a yes or no on each, rather than asking "are you flexible?"
| Question | What a strong answer sounds like | Red flags |
|---|---|---|
| This unit needs three twelve-hour nights, every third weekend, and one holiday. Can you work that schedule? | A yes or no to each part. "Nights are fine, I need Christmas off, I can do New Year's." | "Whatever they need" followed by a request for days only once the offer arrives. |
| Are you open to floating, and to which units? | Names the units they are competent on and the ones they would decline. | Refuses all floating for a facility that floats by policy, or agrees to float anywhere. |
| Do you have any time off already booked in the contract window? | Dates, stated up front, so the request can go into the submittal. | Mentions a two-week trip after the start date is confirmed. |
| Travel only: how many travel contracts have you completed, and did you finish each one? | A number, where they were, and a clear reason if one ended early. | Several contracts ended early with a different reason each time. |
| Travel only: would you extend if the facility asked? | An honest answer tied to their plans. Either answer is useful. | A yes to everything, which tells you nothing. |
| Perm only: why leave staff work at your current hospital? | A specific push or pull: schedule, commute, a unit they want to grow into. | Only complaints about coworkers, or a move that repeats the problem they describe. |
| What do you need the pay package to look like for this to work? | A number for the weekly or hourly total and what matters most in it. | Will not give any number. See salary expectation questions for how to ask it without asking pay history. |
Do not advise on stipends, tax home or how a pay package is taxed. Say that payroll or the nurse's own tax adviser answers those questions, and move on.
Where RN experience gets overstated
Nurses rarely invent experience. What happens more often is that a resume is written generously and the phone screen is the first time anyone asks for detail. These are the patterns a healthcare recruiter learns to spot:
- Float pool counted as specialty time. Two years in a float pool that covered ICU a few shifts a month becomes "two years ICU". Ask what share of shifts were on the unit in question.
- Step-down described as ICU. Progressive care and intermediate care are valuable but different. Ask about ratios and drips; the answers separate them quickly.
- Old experience presented as recent. Facilities care about recent time in the specialty. A nurse who left the ED three years ago for a clinic role may need a refresher before a travel contract.
- Residency and orientation counted as independent practice. Ask when they came off orientation and took a full assignment on their own.
- Hospital level borrowed for the unit. "Level I trauma center" describes the hospital's designation; the nurse may have worked on a unit that rarely saw trauma.
- Certification planned, listed as held. "CCRN" on a resume where the exam is scheduled. Ask for the certification number or verification.
Knockout checklist and scorecard
Run the knockouts in the first five minutes. If any answer is a no, say so kindly and end the screen or redirect to a job that fits. Continuing a screen that cannot place wastes both of your afternoons.
Knockouts (all must be yes)
- Active RN license valid for the job's state, verified in Nursys or the state board lookup.
- If relying on a multistate license: primary state of residence is a compact state and matches the license.
- No unresolved board action, or a disclosed one the client has agreed to review.
- Recent staff experience in the required specialty that meets the facility's minimum.
- BLS, plus the unit's required certifications, current through the start date.
- Can work the stated shift pattern, weekends and holiday requirement.
- Available on the start date, with any booked time off disclosed.
For candidates who pass, score the rest on a simple 1 to 3 scale so candidates for the same job can be compared.
| Area | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Specialty depth | Describes the specialty, not their unit | Clear unit detail, some gaps on acuity | Specific patients, ratios, equipment, independent skills |
| Charting system | Not used | Used, not recently | Current daily user |
| Schedule fit | Conditions on most requirements | One exception, disclosed | Yes to every requirement |
| Reliability signals | Unexplained early contract ends or gaps | Explained once | Completed contracts or stable tenure |
| References | None clinical or recent | Recent peer references only | Recent charge nurse or manager reference ready |
For the references themselves, use the question set in the reference check template, and ask for at least one person who supervised their clinical work, not only a coworker.
What not to ask a nurse on a screen
Healthcare screens drift into personal territory more than most, because schedules touch family life and the job is physical. Keep to the job. The EEOC's guidance on pre-employment disability-related questions allows you to ask whether a candidate can perform the job's functions, and not to ask about medical conditions before an offer.
| Do not ask | Ask instead |
|---|---|
| "Do you have kids who make nights hard?" | "The role is three twelve-hour nights. Can you work that schedule?" |
| "Any back problems? The unit does a lot of lifting." | "The role includes repositioning and transferring patients with lift equipment. Can you perform those duties, with or without accommodation?" |
| "Where are you from originally?" | "Which states are you licensed in?" |
| "When did you graduate nursing school?" | "How many months of recent experience do you have on this type of unit?" |
| "What are you making at your current hospital?" | "What do you need the pay package to look like?" |
If you run a lot of these screens back to back, a live question guide that ticks off the license, compact and certification questions as they are covered is the easiest way to be sure none were skipped. Interview Signal does this from the job description, and writes the notes while you keep your attention on the answers.
Questions people ask
Can a nurse who lives in California hold a compact license?
No. A multistate license is tied to the nurse's primary state of residence, and that state has to be in the Nurse Licensure Compact. A nurse whose legal residence is in a non-compact state holds single-state licenses, one per state where they practice.
Does the Nurse Licensure Compact cover nurse practitioners?
No. The NLC covers RN and LPN/VN licenses. NCSBN's travel nurse FAQ says APRNs need a separate license for each state where they practice.
How do I check a nurse's license and compact status?
Use Nursys QuickConfirm, which is free and pulls licensure and discipline information from participating boards of nursing. It can show where the nurse has authority to practice. For boards that do not participate, check the state board directly.
How long should an RN phone screen take?
Around 15 to 20 minutes for a travel or per diem screen where the knockouts are clear, and closer to 30 minutes for a permanent role where fit with the unit and schedule matters more. Run the license and shift knockouts in the first five minutes.