Congratulations on your baby! So, you are thinking of hiring a Maternity Nurse? Non-medical Maternity Nurses (or otherwise known as “Post Natal Care Specialists (PNCS”) come to help care for you and your baby after birth. Regardless of if you are self recruiting or going through an agency, before you pick the chosen maternity nurse, you will most certainly conduct an interview. Hiring a maternity nurse can seem like a daunting task, but we are here to help. Here is a compiled list of the best interview questions to ask your prospective maternity nurse.
1. Tell me about your experience?
Experience, experience, experience. A word that gets thrown around a lot but one very highly valued. In this industry, asking a Maternity Nurse for her previous Maternity Nursing experience will help you understand what she has been exposed to, as not everything that happens in real life gets taught in training and vice versa! So make sure you go through her previous roles (or clients) to understand what she has seen and helped with. This will also give her the opportunity to tell you what she is good at.
2. What qualifications do you have?
This is a very important aspect of the interview process. By asking her what her qualifications are, it enables you to see what formal training she has done and what she has covered in her studies. In order to be a qualified Post-Natal care specialist, Maternity Nurses must have a recognised qualification like MNT (accredited by OCN) or NEST (Newborn & Nanny Education Services and Training).
3. What’s your opinion on routine?
This is an important interview question to ask. As every prospective Maternity Nurse will have a different approach towards parenting and routine. Some Maternity Nurses will favour stricter routines like that of Gina Ford and others will favour an approach based on attachment/gentle parenting like that of Sarah Buckley. It is important to make sure you find and hire a Maternity Nurse that supports you in making your choice on routine.
4. Do you have experience supporting breastfeeding mums?
After having a baby you might find that you want help with breastfeeding. This question is a good question to ask Maternity Nurses because it allows you to see how much experience they have and how capable they are in supporting you through your breastfeeding journey. Some Maternity Nurses have additional qualifications or are breastfeeding specialists too. If your preference is not to breastfeed then let the Maternity Nurse know and see how she feels she could support you in that.
5. What’s your favourite thing about Maternity Nursing?
Asking your potential Maternity Nurse this question lets you see more into her personality. It will allow you to better understand her as a person and her reasons for choosing this career and will ultimately help you sense if she is the right one for you!
6. Are you happy to travel?
This a great question to ask if you are thinking of traveling with your Maternity Nurse. Asking her this question will help you clarify what her plans are and also whether or not she suffers from travel sickness. It will also give her the opportunity to talk about any traveling experience she has with babies. Make sure that if you are traveling with your Maternity Nurse you discuss the logistics of pay, travel, accommodation, expenses etc!
7. Tell me more about your background/hobbies?
Your Maternity Nurse is there to be your aid, helper, teacher, guide and friend. This is a great question to ask as it will enable you to see her as a whole person and not just as your potential Maternity Nurse. It’s always a good idea to find out a little bit about her background, family, and love for children so that you can build on a sense of trust and bonding.
8. Are you happy to help with house tasks/ errands?
Make sure you ask this question to avoid any unnecessary and/or awkward moments later! Clarify with your potential Maternity Nurse whether or not she would be happy to help with cooking/ laundry/ errands before you start.
9. Logistical expectations?
This is a very important aspect of the interview process. This is the part where you clarify all the contractual terms, such as the hours, whether she will live in or live out, what she charges per 24 hours, when she can start, does she require a retainer fee to ensure her availability, etc! Asking all these questions up front allows you both to see how comfortable a potential booking would be together.
10. Do you have any questions for me?
Ensure that you allow your potential Maternity Nurse time to ask you questions. Click To Tweet Each Maternity Nurse has a different style and some come prepared with things they would like to ask/ or show you. Giving them this time ensures that you have covered as many topics together as possible.
Do you feel more confident going into interviews now you know the interview questions to ask your prospective maternity nurse? We can help! If you find that you would like to hire a Maternity Nurse then do feel free to get in touch with us at Polo and Tweed. We have many highly experienced and qualified Maternity Nurses on our book, ready for interview. We will guide you through the whole process so