Interviewing a Maternity Nurse

Guide to Interview Techniques

An important aspect of finding the right Maternity Nurse is to personally interview them. This will give you a good idea of their personality and how they will fit into your household. A guide to interview techniques and the topics of conversation you may wish to discuss is included in our brochure.

Once you feel you have found the right person we suggest that you check some if not all of the references provided. To avoid disappointment, we suggest that you do this as quickly as possible as a maternity nurse until booked, will continue to fill her available dates.

If you are unable to meet a candidate that you really like after a telephone interview, it is possible to provisionally book, subject to an interview at a later date. This will ensure her details is not send to other clients before you have had chance to meet each other and confirm dates.

Generally the first interview will take the form of a telephone interview where you can get a general feel for the nurse and assess her suitability. We then recommend that if possible you meet up either you travelling to London or her travelling out to see you. Occasionally clients arrange for a London based friend or relative to conduct interviews on their behalf. Where poossible we will email photographs of the candidate.

The aim of an interview is to:

• Meet and familiarise yourself with the Maternity Nurse, her personality and judge whether you will be able to work/live with her;

• Discuss your ideas on how you see the Maternity Nurse working;

• Allow the Maternity Nurse to meet you and other members of your family;

• Allow the Maternity Nurse to see her potential working environment.

Interviewing can be time-consuming for both mothers and Maternity Nurses alike and therefore it is advised that you start with a telephone call to see if you would like to proceed to the interview stage. If you like the sound of the Maternity Nurse please arrange to see them at a mutually convenient time remembering that Maternity Nurses generally only have one free day off a week.

Below is a rough guide of points you may wish to cover at interview.

• The most important point to remember is to prepare yourself before you start interviewing. This will save time and allow you to relax and get to know the Maternity Nurse.

• Ideally the interview will take place at the booking location. If this is not possible, try and give the Maternity Nurse an idea of the type of area, accommodation and facilities you have around you.

• A tour of your house/flat can be a good ice-breaker and an opportunity to discuss the nursery, meal arrangements, sleeping arrangements and aspects of privacy.

• Do try to list a ‘Job Description’ for your Maternity Nurse and discuss their compatibility with your requirements.
  

Topics that we feel useful to cover include:

• Use of dummies;

• Does the candidate have the baby in bed with her and your feelings about this;

• Time off during the day for walks, catching up on sleep etc;

• Views on routine i.e. how strict she is about when the baby can be picked up, remembering that it is her duty to settle the baby;

• Views on mixed feeding and expressing;

• Discretion - in terms of meal times and evenings;

• If there are siblings to consider, discuss the relationship you want the Maternity Nurse to have with the siblings and their Nanny, Mother's Help as is relevant;

• Flexibility of dates and if she would charge a deposit on booking.

As Maternity Nurses are all self-employed, it is also advisable to ascertain whether they have their own contract and/or charge a deposit. This would then bring up topics such as Bank Holidays and cancellation clauses.

If you then decide to book the Maternity Nurse there should be no dispute about any aspects of the job.

A good way to introduce these topics and others is to ask the Maternity Nurse to describe a typical day. The Maternity Nurse will have a wealth of knowledge on general baby care and also what to buy for your baby.

Finally, as we say to our Maternity Nurses, be yourself – a sense of humour if often key to good communication!

If you are interested in booking a Maternity Nurse, feel free to contact some of her references to verify she is the correct person for you and then let us know your decision as soon as possible so that we can allocate her diary to your dates and cease sending her details to other potential clients.

Maternally Yours is part of Imperial Recruitment the largest domestic recruitment agency supplying staff for all domestic situations throughout the UK and abroad.

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