Nursing Aptitude Tests

Nursing Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are a duty assistant at a gym. A member tells you the emergency stop cord on one of the treadmills does not seem to work. You test it and the belt does not stop. The gym is busy, six other treadmills are working, and the maintenance contractor is not on site. Your duty manager is in the building and reachable on the radio. There is no out-of-order signage kept on the gym floor. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Note the fault in the maintenance logbook so it is picked up at the contractor's next scheduled visit, and mention it to your duty manager at the end of your shift.
   2. Ring the maintenance contractor yourself to ask how soon someone can attend and what should be done with the treadmill until then.
   3. Take the treadmill out of use immediately, make it obvious it must not be used, and radio your duty manager straight away so she can arrange the repair and proper signage.
   4. Leave the treadmill in use, since the belt can still be stopped with the console button and six other treadmills are available if a member would rather not use that one.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Take the treadmill out of use immediately, make it obvious it must not be used, and radio your duty manager straight away so she can arrange the repair and proper signage.

   Least effective: D. Leave the treadmill in use, since the belt can still be stopped with the console button and six other treadmills are available if a member would rather not use that one.

   A: Delays the decision: the logbook is the right record and the wrong speed. It leaves a treadmill with no working emergency stop available to members for the rest of the day.

   B: Acts on assumptions without checking: the contractor's answer is useful and the decision about whether members may use a machine with no emergency stop belongs to your duty manager, who is in the building now.

   D: Stays silent about a known safety risk: you have confirmed the emergency stop does not work and leave the machine open to members anyway, with nobody told. That is a safety failure, not a judgement about priorities.

   The most effective response is to take the treadmill out of use immediately and radio your duty manager: an emergency stop that does not work on a moving belt is a safety fault, so the machine comes out of use first, and she is in the building and is the person who can arrange both signage and the contractor. It beats noting the fault in the maintenance logbook for the contractor’s next scheduled visit, because that records it for a future visit while members carry on using the machine today. It beats ringing the maintenance contractor yourself, because they can say when they will come but cannot decide whether the gym may keep a machine with no emergency stop in service; that is the duty manager’s call and she is thirty seconds away on the radio. The least effective response is leaving the treadmill in use because the belt can still be stopped with the console button: it is the only response that leaves a confirmed safety fault in service and tells nobody, on the reasoning that members have alternatives. That is worse than the other two, which are too slow but do report it. The principle: make a safety fault safe first, then tell the person on site who can decide what happens next.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are an events assistant at a wedding venue. A couple’s wedding is on Saturday. On Thursday the marquee supplier tells you the marquee ordered is no longer available and only a smaller one can be delivered, which will not seat the full guest list of a hundred and twenty. The couple are contactable. Your venue manager is off until Saturday morning. The couple have already sent seating plans. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Ring the couple today, explain the marquee is unavailable and what the smaller one would mean for their guest list, and go through the options with them before anything is confirmed.
   2. Work out a revised seating arrangement that fits the smaller marquee, then send it to the couple so they can see the problem and the solution together.
   3. Accept the smaller marquee and tell the couple on Saturday morning when the venue manager is back, since there is nothing they can usefully do about it beforehand.
   4. Spend Thursday and Friday ringing round other marquee suppliers, and contact the couple only if you cannot find one that fits the full guest list.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Ring the couple today, explain the marquee is unavailable and what the smaller one would mean for their guest list, and go through the options with them before anything is confirmed.

   Least effective: C. Accept the smaller marquee and tell the couple on Saturday morning when the venue manager is back, since there is nothing they can usefully do about it beforehand.

   B: Substitutes own judgement for the stakeholder's: how a hundred and twenty guests are seated at their own wedding is the couple's decision, and presenting a finished plan removes it from them.

   C: Hides the problem / silent deadline slip: it is untrue that nothing can be done on Thursday and Friday, and telling them on the morning of the wedding removes every remaining option. That is concealment at the worst possible moment.

   D: Delays the message: the search is worth doing and it is being done instead of telling them. If it fails, the couple learn on Friday night with no time left at all.

   The most effective response is to ring the couple today, explain the marquee is unavailable and what the smaller one would mean for their guest list, and go through the options before anything is confirmed: it is their wedding and their guest list, they have two days in which real alternatives exist, and only they can weigh a smaller marquee against the rest. Telling them first keeps the decision theirs. It beats working out a revised seating arrangement and sending it so they see the problem and the solution together, because that decides for them how their guests are arranged, which is not a logistics question. It beats spending Thursday and Friday ringing round other suppliers, because that search, however sensible, uses up both remaining days before they are told anything. The least effective response is accepting the smaller marquee and telling them on Saturday morning: it leaves them to discover on the morning of their wedding that a hundred and twenty guests will not fit, when two days of alternatives were available. That is worse than the other two, which act on their behalf but at least act. The principle: when a failure affects someone’s own event, tell them at once and let them choose, rather than solving it for them or waiting until you have solved it.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are a technician at a food-testing laboratory. Today you are preparing a batch of samples from a food manufacturer whose production run is on hold until your results are reported. The analysis needs a calibration you have performed only once, under supervision, since joining the instrument team two weeks ago. If the calibration is wrong the results are invalid and the manufacturer would have to courier fresh samples, extending the hold by days. A senior technician who runs this calibration every week is working at the next bench. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Work through the calibration alone with the instrument manual, taking care over each step, and run the samples once it matches what you remember from your training.
   2. Ask the senior technician to check your calibration before you run the batch, so the manufacturer's samples are analysed right first time.
   3. Email the laboratory manager that you are not yet confident with this calibration, and ask for the batch to be reassigned to a more experienced technician.
   4. Skip the unfamiliar calibration step, reasoning that the instrument was set up recently enough for the readings to be close, and report the results in the usual way.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Ask the senior technician to check your calibration before you run the batch, so the manufacturer's samples are analysed right first time.

   Least effective: D. Skip the unfamiliar calibration step, reasoning that the instrument was set up recently enough for the readings to be close, and report the results in the usual way.

   A: Over-commits solo: working from the manual and one supervised attempt gambles days of the manufacturer's production hold on your memory, when the person who runs this calibration every week is at the next bench and a brief check would remove the risk.

   C: Passes responsibility to others: reassignment would get the batch done safely, but it hands away work you could complete with a brief check from the next bench, adds a manager round-trip while the client's production waits, and leaves your calibration skills where they were.

   D: Gambles recklessly with the client's batch: skipping a required calibration and reporting the results anyway stakes the validity of the analysis, and days of the manufacturer's held production, on a guess, a reckless disregard of the required method rather than a defensible way of working.

   The most effective response is to ask the senior technician to check your calibration before you run the batch: the expertise you need is at the next bench, a check takes minutes, and it protects the one thing the manufacturer’s held production depends on, valid results first time, while you keep ownership of your own batch. It beats working through the calibration alone with the manual, because that gambles days of the client’s hold on one unsupervised attempt; taking care is not the same as knowing the procedure, and the risk could be removed by simply asking. It beats emailing the laboratory manager to have the batch reassigned, because that hands away work you could complete with a brief check, adds a manager round-trip while the production hold runs on, and builds none of the competence the role needs. The least effective response is skipping the unfamiliar calibration step and reporting the results anyway: unlike attempting it alone, which at least performs the required step carefully, and unlike reassigning the batch, which puts it in experienced hands, it omits the calibration entirely and gambles the client’s held production on guesswork. The principle: when a colleague’s expertise is at hand and the cost of error is high, ask early; do not gamble alone or hand the work away.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You work on a university student services helpdesk during enrolment week. The queue is long and the online system has been down all morning. A student who has queued twice tells you loudly that the university is a shambles and that you have wasted two hours of his day. He has a genuine problem: his enrolment is not complete and his accommodation depends on it. Your team leader is nearby. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Explain that the system outage has affected everyone this morning and that the helpdesk staff have no control over it, and ask him to bear with you.
   2. Apologise and ask your team leader to take over, since the student is angry and a more senior person may be able to resolve his enrolment faster.
   3. Acknowledge the two hours he has lost, tell him exactly what you can do for his enrolment now and what it means for his accommodation, and start on it.
   4. Tell him the system is down so nothing can be done today, and ask him to come back tomorrow when it has been restored.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Acknowledge the two hours he has lost, tell him exactly what you can do for his enrolment now and what it means for his accommodation, and start on it.

   Least effective: D. Tell him the system is down so nothing can be done today, and ask him to come back tomorrow when it has been restored.

   A: Personalises the conflict: the explanation is true and it answers his anger rather than his enrolment, in front of a queue that is listening and equally frustrated.

   B: Passes responsibility to others: it hands over a case you can start on, makes him repeat his story a third time, and takes a team leader off the floor during the busiest week.

   D: Ignores the customer's actual need: it sends away a student whose accommodation depends on enrolment, on the claim that nothing can be done, without establishing whether anything can be done manually. That is a dismissal, not an answer.

   The most effective response is to acknowledge the two hours he has lost, tell him exactly what you can do for his enrolment now and what it means for his accommodation, and start on it: he has a real problem with a real consequence, so acknowledging the wasted time and moving straight to what can be done answers the complaint properly. It beats explaining that the outage has affected everyone and asking him to bear with you, because defending the helpdesk, however fairly, engages his anger instead of his enrolment while the queue watches. It beats asking your team leader to take over, because that makes him tell the story a third time and removes a supervisor from the floor when you can begin now. The least effective response is telling him nothing can be done today and asking him to come back tomorrow: it says that to a student whose accommodation depends on enrolment, without checking whether anything can be done manually, and sends him away for a third visit. That is worse than the other two, which respond badly but keep him in the process. The principle: acknowledge the cost to the person, then move immediately to the most concrete thing you can actually do.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are a shop floor assistant in a supermarket. You have finished facing up your aisle. Your colleague Dev is alone on the fresh produce aisle with three cages of stock to put out before the evening rush in an hour, and is clearly not going to finish. He has not asked for help. Your section manager is on a break for another twenty minutes. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Ask Dev whether he would like a hand, and find something else to do if he says he is fine, since he may have a system for working through the cages.
   2. Go over to produce, tell Dev your aisle is done and you will take one of the cages, and work alongside him until the stock is out.
   3. Wait for the section manager to come back from her break in twenty minutes and suggest that someone is moved onto produce to help Dev clear the cages.
   4. Find another job in your own section, since produce is Dev's aisle tonight and stepping in without being asked might look as though you are checking up on him.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Go over to produce, tell Dev your aisle is done and you will take one of the cages, and work alongside him until the stock is out.

   Least effective: D. Find another job in your own section, since produce is Dev's aisle tonight and stepping in without being asked might look as though you are checking up on him.

   A: Substitutes own judgement for the stakeholder's: a colleague halfway through three cages with an hour to go will usually say he is managing, so the question is polite and predictably leaves him alone with them.

   C: Delays the decision: it spends a third of the remaining hour waiting to ask someone else to do what you could start now, and the cages are no smaller when she returns.

   D: Invents a reason not to help: it invents a reason not to help while three cages of fresh produce miss the evening rush. Manufacturing a concern about appearances to justify standing by is the failure here.

   The most effective response is to go over to produce, tell Dev your aisle is done and you will take one of the cages, and work alongside him: your aisle is finished, he has an hour and more stock than he can move, and the fastest fix is a second pair of hands. Saying your aisle is done removes any need for him to admit he is behind. It beats asking whether he would like a hand and finding something else if he says he is fine, because putting that question to a colleague mid-task invites the polite refusal, and the cages remain. It beats waiting for the section manager to come back from her break, because that spends a third of the available time arranging what you could simply do. The least effective response is finding another job in your own section: it leaves a colleague to miss the evening rush while you look for other work, and the justification is a worry about how helping might look. That is worse than offering, which at least asks, and worse than waiting for the manager, which at least seeks help. The principle: when your own work is done and a colleague plainly cannot finish, start helping rather than asking or waiting.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are an administrator at a driving instructor training company. A candidate is booked for an assessment on Thursday. On Tuesday the examiner tells you he cannot attend and the next available date is in three weeks. The candidate has already paid and has told you he has a job offer conditional on passing this month. He is contactable. Your centre manager is available today. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Ring the candidate today, explain the examiner cannot attend and the next date is three weeks away, and ask your centre manager what else can be offered given his job offer.
   2. Leave the booking in place and tell him on Thursday when he arrives, since another examiner may become available before then and there is no point worrying him early.
   3. Rebook him into the next available assessment in three weeks and email him the new date, apologising for the change and confirming that his fee carries over.
   4. Email him today to say Thursday's assessment has to be moved and that you will confirm a new date once the examiner's availability has been finalised.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Ring the candidate today, explain the examiner cannot attend and the next date is three weeks away, and ask your centre manager what else can be offered given his job offer.

   Least effective: B. Leave the booking in place and tell him on Thursday when he arrives, since another examiner may become available before then and there is no point worrying him early.

   B: Hides the problem / silent deadline slip: he travels to an assessment you know is not happening, and loses two days in which he could have sought an alternative. Betting his job offer on an examiner appearing is concealment.

   C: Substitutes own judgement for the stakeholder's: it fixes the diary and ignores the fact he told you about, a job offer conditional on passing this month, which the new date defeats.

   D: Delays the message: it reaches him in time and withholds the three week gap, which is the fact that collides with his job offer and the only one he can act on.

   The most effective response is to ring the candidate today, explain the examiner cannot attend and the next date is three weeks away, and ask your centre manager what else can be offered: he has a job offer conditional on passing this month, a three-week delay defeats it, and she may have options, another examiner or another centre, that you do not. Telling him today while that is being explored is the only response that engages with what is actually at stake. It beats rebooking him into the next available assessment and emailing the new date, because that treats a problem about his job offer as a diary entry. It beats emailing to say Thursday has to move with a date to follow, because withholding the three-week gap keeps from him the one fact he needs to act on. The least effective response is leaving the booking in place and telling him when he arrives on Thursday: it lets him travel to an assessment that is not happening and burns two days of a deadline he told you about. That is worse than the other two, which respond inadequately but in time. The principle: when someone has told you what is riding on a date, give them the bad news at once and take the problem to whoever might have another route.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You work in the post room of a large office. At 3pm the courier arrives for the daily collection, which leaves at 3.15. A colleague has just brought down a contract that must reach a client tomorrow, and it needs an envelope and a label, taking five minutes. Your supervisor has also asked you to reorganise the shelving before you finish, a job with no deadline. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Put the contract in the collection unlabelled so it makes the 3.15 courier, and sort out the paperwork with the courier company afterwards.
   2. Start the shelving as your supervisor asked, and put the contract in tomorrow's collection since it will still reach the client the following day.
   3. Prepare and label the contract straight away so it goes with the 3.15 collection, and start the shelving afterwards.
   4. Ask the courier to wait while you check with your supervisor whether the contract or the shelving should come first.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Prepare and label the contract straight away so it goes with the 3.15 collection, and start the shelving afterwards.

   Least effective: A. Put the contract in the collection unlabelled so it makes the 3.15 courier, and sort out the paperwork with the courier company afterwards.

   A: Acts recklessly with the client's document: an unlabelled contract in a courier bag is a document with no destination, so the one item that had to arrive tomorrow is the one most likely to be lost entirely.

   B: Substitutes own judgement for the stakeholder's: it decides the client's deadline can slip a day in order to start a job with no deadline at all, when five minutes would have caught the courier.

   D: Escalates prematurely: a five-minute job against a job with no deadline is a call you can make yourself, and holding the courier to ask it risks the whole collection.

   The most effective response is to prepare and label the contract straight away so it goes with the 3.15 collection, then start the shelving: the courier leaves at 3.15, the contract takes five minutes and has a client deadline tomorrow, and the shelving has no deadline at all. Doing the short, time-critical job first costs the shelving nothing. It beats starting the shelving and putting the contract in tomorrow’s collection, because that treats a task with no deadline as outranking a client contract that would have made today’s courier with ten minutes to spare. It beats asking the courier to wait while you check with your supervisor, because choosing between a five-minute job and an open-ended one does not need a supervisor, and asking risks holding the courier. The least effective response is putting the contract in the collection unlabelled: an unlabelled contract in a courier bag has no destination, so the attempt to save it is the thing most likely to lose it. That is worse than sending it tomorrow, which is a day late but safe, and worse than holding the courier, which at least keeps it intact. The principle: when a short task has a closing window and a long one has none, do the short one properly, then the long one.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You work in a council customer services team. You and your colleague Nadia job-share the housing repairs inbox. She believes tenants should be told realistic timescales even when they are long; you have been giving the target timescales the service publishes. A tenant has complained that he was told two different things by the two of you. Your team leader has asked you both to sort it out. Forty repair emails are waiting. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Agree to use Nadia's realistic timescales from now on, since the complaint came from a tenant being given the published target and then finding it was not met.
   2. Ask your team leader to rule on which timescales should be quoted, and hold the forty repair emails until she has decided so that no more tenants get conflicting answers.
   3. Carry on quoting the published targets, since they are the service's official position, and let Nadia answer her share however she prefers until somebody tells one of you otherwise.
   4. Sit down with Nadia today, agree a single form of words that gives the published target and what is realistic, use it on the forty waiting emails, and take it to your team leader to confirm.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Sit down with Nadia today, agree a single form of words that gives the published target and what is realistic, use it on the forty waiting emails, and take it to your team leader to confirm.

   Least effective: C. Carry on quoting the published targets, since they are the service's official position, and let Nadia answer her share however she prefers until somebody tells one of you otherwise.

   A: Prioritises harmony over honesty: it settles the disagreement by conceding rather than resolving it, and commits the team to quoting timescales that differ from the ones the service publishes.

   B: Delays the decision: it seeks the right ruling at the cost of forty tenants waiting longer for any answer at all, when a shared form of words could go out today and be confirmed afterwards.

   C: Avoids the difficult conversation: it accepts that tenants will keep getting two different answers from the same inbox, which is the exact complaint, and waits for someone else to fix it. Choosing to continue a known defect is worse than choosing the wrong fix.

   The most effective response is to sit down with Nadia today, agree a single form of words giving both the published target and what is realistic, use it on the forty waiting emails, and take it to your team leader to confirm: there are two problems, forty tenants waiting and a genuine disagreement about what to tell them, and a shared form of words solves both at once. Giving the target and the realistic expectation together is not a compromise between the two positions, it is the answer a tenant actually needs. It beats agreeing to use her realistic timescales from now on, because conceding to one view commits the team to quoting something other than the published target without anyone senior agreeing. It beats asking your team leader to rule and holding the emails until she has decided, because that makes tenants pay for an internal disagreement. The least effective response is carrying on quoting the published targets and letting Nadia answer her share however she prefers: it knowingly continues the practice that generated the complaint, with tenants still receiving two different answers from one inbox, and waits to be told to stop. That is worse than the other two, which pick a direction. The principle: agree a shared answer with your colleague, use it now, and have it confirmed afterwards rather than pausing the work.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are a ward clerk at a hospital. Your colleague Anita, who covers discharges, has been off sick for two days and returns tomorrow. Discharge summaries have piled up, and the ward sister asks you to work through them today on top of your own admissions work. You have done the task before but are slower at it. You cannot complete both by the end of the shift. The ward sister is on the ward. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Say nothing about the clash, do what you can of both, and leave the rest for Anita to pick up when she is back tomorrow since discharges are her responsibility.
   2. Tell the ward sister you can clear either the admissions or most of the discharge summaries today but not both, and ask which she wants prioritised before you start.
   3. Work on the discharge summaries first since the sister has asked for them, and leave any admissions paperwork you cannot finish for whoever is on the ward tomorrow morning.
   4. Start the discharge summaries and work through as many as you can alongside admissions, switching between the two so that both piles go down over the course of the shift.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Tell the ward sister you can clear either the admissions or most of the discharge summaries today but not both, and ask which she wants prioritised before you start.

   Least effective: A. Say nothing about the clash, do what you can of both, and leave the rest for Anita to pick up when she is back tomorrow since discharges are her responsibility.

   A: Hides the problem: the sister believes the summaries are being handled, and a colleague returning from sick leave walks into a backlog nobody has flagged. The silence is the failure, not the workload.

   C: Abandons own committed work: admissions paperwork left undone lands on tomorrow's ward with nobody told it is coming, so the pile simply moves rather than shrinking.

   D: Splits effort so nothing finishes: alternating between two unfamiliar and familiar tasks leaves both partly done at the end of the shift, and a half-processed discharge is of no use to anyone.

   The most effective response is to tell the ward sister you can clear either the admissions or most of the discharge summaries but not both, and ask which she wants prioritised: she does not know that taking on the summaries means the admissions work will not be finished, and she is the person who can weigh those against each other. Asking before you start costs a minute and makes the rest of the shift deliberate. It beats working on the discharge summaries first and leaving unfinished admissions paperwork for tomorrow, because silently dropping admissions leaves tomorrow’s ward with a backlog nobody warned them about. It beats switching between the two so both piles go down, because that leaves both half done, and a partly completed discharge summary releases nobody. The least effective response is saying nothing about the clash and leaving the rest for Anita tomorrow: it leaves the sister believing both are in hand, and a colleague back from sick leave to discover the pile, with nobody having said anything to either of them. That is worse than the other two, which mismanage the work but do not conceal it. The principle: when you cannot do everything asked, say so before you start and let the person who owns the priorities choose.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are a sales assistant at a garden centre. Your manager asked you this morning to price and shelve a delivery of spring bulbs before you finish at 5pm; the bulbs are not on promotion and no customer is waiting for them. At 2pm the till supervisor tells you the card terminal on the main till has failed, a queue is building at the single working till, and you are the only other member of staff trained to open the second one. Your manager is running a planting workshop outside for the next hour. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Open the second till straight away to clear the queue, then go back to the bulbs and let your manager know afterwards that the pricing may run past 5pm.
    2. Carry on pricing the bulbs because your manager asked for them personally, and leave the till supervisor to manage the queue without mentioning that you are trained on the second till.
    3. Serve at the second till between trips to the stockroom, pricing a few trays of bulbs each time the queue drops, so that both jobs keep moving through the afternoon.
    4. Interrupt your manager's planting workshop to ask whether the bulbs or the till queue should come first, and wait for her decision before doing anything else.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: A. Open the second till straight away to clear the queue, then go back to the bulbs and let your manager know afterwards that the pricing may run past 5pm.

    Least effective: B. Carry on pricing the bulbs because your manager asked for them personally, and leave the till supervisor to manage the queue without mentioning that you are trained on the second till.

    B: Hides the problem: you hold the one fact that would fix the queue and you withhold it, so the supervisor cannot solve a problem she does not know is solvable. That is concealment, not a priority call.

    C: Splits effort so nothing finishes: customers are waiting now and the queue only clears if someone stays on the till, so stepping away repeatedly leaves the queue growing and the bulbs still unpriced.

    D: Escalates prematurely: a queue at the only working till against unpriced stock nobody is waiting for is a call you can make yourself, and interrupting a customer workshop costs more than it settles.

    The most effective response is to open the second till straight away and tell your manager afterwards: customers are waiting now, the bulbs are waiting for nobody, and the pricing deadline is internal and movable while the queue is neither. Telling her afterwards keeps her informed without pulling her out of a workshop. It beats serving at the second till between trips to the stockroom, because serving in bursts never clears a queue; the till needs someone sitting at it, and dividing yourself leaves both jobs half done. It beats interrupting her planting workshop to ask which comes first, because this is a straightforward call between a waiting customer and a task nobody is waiting on, and it does not need a manager pulled away from a customer event to make it. The least effective response is carrying on with the bulbs without mentioning that you are trained on the second till: you are the only other trained operator and you keep that to yourself, so the supervisor is left unable to fix something you could have fixed in seconds. That is worse than serving in bursts, which at least serves some customers, and worse than asking your manager, which at least surfaces the clash to someone. The principle: when one task has people waiting on it and the other does not, serve the people, then tell the person whose deadline slipped.