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Cath lab nurse interview questions, and what a good answer sounds like

A cath lab interview feels less like a hospital HR screen and more like a quiz from the people you'll be standing next to at a very bad hour. Expect the lab manager, a senior nurse and sometimes a tech or cardiologist to walk you through clinical scenarios out loud. They want to hear how you think when the pressure drops, not how many units you've floated to.

11 questions7 minute read

Part 1

1.Walk me through how you'd monitor a patient under moderate sedation during a long PCI.

Why they ask

Sedation is usually the nurse's core responsibility at the table, and oversedating a patient lying flat under drapes is a real danger.

How to answer

  • Pre-procedure check: airway assessment, allergies, last oral intake, baseline vitals and mental status
  • What you watch continuously: respiratory rate, capnography if the lab uses it, oxygen saturation, rhythm and responsiveness
  • How you titrate small doses to the physician's order and document each one with time and response
  • When you'd stop, reach for reversal agents or call for airway help

2.The patient's pressure suddenly drops and they become bradycardic after the wire crosses the lesion. What do you do?

Why they ask

They want to see whether you can sort a vagal response from a perforation, tamponade or no-reflow, and move fast without freezing.

How to answer

  • Say it out loud to the team immediately, with the numbers
  • Check the patient: responsiveness, nausea, yawning, skin
  • Name likely causes and what each would change, like atropine and fluids for vagal, echo for suspected tamponade
  • Get emergency drugs and the crash cart ready and follow the physician's orders

3.Tell me how you'd read an arterial pressure waveform and what would make you question it.

Why they ask

Hemodynamic monitoring is constant in the lab, and a damped or badly leveled line can send the whole team down the wrong road.

How to answer

  • Describe a normal waveform: upstroke, dicrotic notch, how systolic and diastolic show up
  • Explain what damping looks like and common causes like air, kinks or clots
  • Mention leveling and zeroing the transducer and when you'd redo it
  • Connect a waveform change to what you'd check on the patient
4.A STEMI page goes off at night. Walk me from the page to the patient on the table.

Why they ask

Door-to-balloon time drives how every lab is judged, and on-call nurses have to set up quickly and safely.

How to answer

  • How you'd confirm the page and get in within the required response time
  • Room setup priorities: monitor, emergency meds, defibrillator pads, sedation supplies
  • Quick patient handoff from the ER: allergies, anticoagulants given, rhythm, kidney function if known
  • Keeping timestamps accurate because the case will be reviewed later
5.After a femoral case, your patient complains of back pain and their pressure is trending down. What are you thinking?

Why they ask

A retroperitoneal bleed is easy to miss because the groin can look fine, and catching it early saves lives.

How to answer

  • Name retroperitoneal bleeding as a concern right away
  • Assess the site, check distal pulses and look at the full set of vitals and trends
  • Notify the physician, anticipate labs, imaging and fluids or blood
  • Explain why a clean-looking groin doesn't rule it out

Part 2

6.How would you handle a patient who says they had a reaction to contrast before?

Why they ask

Contrast allergies and kidney injury are routine concerns, and the nurse is often the one who catches the history.

How to answer

  • Clarify what the reaction actually was, since hives and anaphylaxis are very different
  • Flag it to the physician before the case and follow any premedication protocol
  • Check kidney function and hydration orders
  • Have epinephrine and airway equipment ready and know the signs to watch for
7.Tell me about a time you disagreed with a physician's order.

Why they ask

The lab is a small room with a strong hierarchy, and they need nurses who'll speak up about safety without starting a fight.

How to answer

  • A specific, real situation with the patient risk at stake
  • How you raised it clearly and with the data in hand
  • What happened and how you escalated if you had to
  • What you'd do the same way next time
8.Have you worked with a balloon pump or other mechanical support devices?

Why they ask

High-risk cases and cardiogenic shock often end with a device placed in the lab, and the team needs someone who won't panic around one.

How to answer

  • Say honestly what you've managed and for how long
  • Explain timing, alarms and the complications you watch for, like limb ischemia and bleeding
  • If you haven't used one, say what you know and how you'd learn it
9.Our call schedule means you'd be on call often and need to arrive fast. How does that fit your life?

Why they ask

Nurses who can't sustain call are the biggest retention problem in most labs, and orientation is expensive.

How to answer

  • Your commute and whether it fits the response window
  • What support you have at home for night call
  • Any honest limits, stated plainly
  • How you've handled on-call or mandatory overtime before
10.Why do you want to leave the unit for the cath lab?

Why they ask

They want to hear real interest in procedures, not just an escape from bedside staffing ratios.

How to answer

  • A moment that made you curious, like recovering a patient whose artery was opened hours earlier
  • What you like about procedural work: immediate results and a tight team
  • What you've already done to learn about the lab
  • What you'll bring from your current unit

Part 3

11.Describe a time you made a mistake with a patient and what you did about it.

Why they ask

In a lab with high-risk drugs and fast cases, they need people who report errors and learn from them.

How to answer

  • A real error or near miss, owned without excuses
  • What you did right away to protect the patient
  • How you reported it
  • The concrete change you made afterward

Questions to ask them

Ask at least two. It shows you're picking them too.

  • How often is each nurse on call, and how often does call actually turn into coming in?
  • What does orientation look like, and who precepts new nurses in the lab?
  • Which tasks do RNs handle here versus techs: do nurses scrub, run the recorder, or pull sheaths?
  • What case mix does the lab see beyond diagnostic caths, such as structural or electrophysiology work?
  • How does the team debrief after a hard STEMI or a code on the table?
Career guideWhat a Cath Lab Nurse does, and what it pays
Read the guide →
Skills to learnCath Lab Nurse skills: what to learn first
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