Health Professional Interview Reflective Essay

Interviews are a great way of gaining information from a celebrity or a senior person. In this dialogue interview, a nurse leader (Jane) was interviewed. Jane (pseudonym) has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing, and over the last ten years, she has been leading nurses in this noble course. Getting time to interview Jane was challenging because of her tight work schedules. Firstly, written communication was used to send an e-mail to Jane requesting to interview her. In this e-mail, I attached the Interview Information Sheet. After a couple of days without her response, I decided to call her, and when she picked, she argued that she missed the e-mail. She went ahead to say that she prefers calls to e-mails.

From this experience, it is evident that calls would be better in communicating urgent matters. Calling also becomes easier in sharing complex ideas and, at the same time, establishing two-way communication. As Drabble et al. (118) note in their work, phone calls makes it easier for the interviewer to learn about the interviewee’s personality and voice. After calling her, we scheduled an in-person interview on a Wednesday evening after work.  From this experience, it was evident that even though e-mails are majorly used in official communication, they have a couple of limitations. Estevez-Mujica and Quintane (e0193966) note that emails are easier to ignore than a phone call, voice tone can also be lost, among other disadvantages.

The interview started by, first of all, signing the Interview Information Sheet. To ensure the interviewee’s confidentiality, I used a pseudonym. Later, I tried to establish a rapport with the interview. Such was done through introductions, asking open-ended questions, and using humour. It was a great experience where the nurse leader shared her breakthroughs and challenges over the years. The meeting was held one on one. Some of the benefits of this in-person interview include getting vital non-verbal cues, in-depth data collection, and clarification of answers since the interviewer probes the interviewee for among others.

In this in-person interview with Jane, various skills were used that includes probing skills, conversational skills, ability to control emotions, and active listening skills. According to the study that Mccrory and Mason (85) conducted, communication skills, including probing and questioning skills, straight-talking, and showing empathy are crucial in conducting an effective interview. Various techniques were used during the actual interview, including open-ended questions, self-disclosure, probing, and rephrasing. With these techniques, I was able to collect in-depth information on the nurse leader’s responsibilities, challenges, and their day to day activities. Through in-person interviews, it became easy for me to capture some of the critical nonverbal skills. For instance, when I asked Jane about the challenges she faces as a nurse leader, she took a deep breath. In this case, I interpreted that the work can be overwhelming, and especially when a nurse leader has uncooperative juniors.

From the analysis of the interview, it is evident that it was a success. Various interview communication skills were effectively used. However, there are a couple of drawbacks that were noted. Firstly, knowing the position that Jane holds, I was anxious. Such anxiety largely affected the rapport-building process. Lack of establishing rapport with an interviewee leads to inadequate data collection (Leavy 429). At some point, the interview was off, with Jane getting bored because of my repetition. I realized that I didn’t have enough questions to ask the interviewee. With such a few questions, I found myself repeating some questions that created much monotony that, at some point, bored my interviewee.

According to Johari Window, self-awareness can be divided into four parts: open self, blind self, hidden self, and unknown self (Osmanoglu 76). In open self, I already know that I am a patient, confident, apprehensive, and a friendly persona, and in such a case, establishing rapport with Jane was not a major challenge. The blind self is another section of the Johari window that explores the information about me that I don’t know, but my friends, family, and the public knows. After the interview, I requested Jane to give me feedback. Jane argued that I did well. However, she complained that I overused the probing technique, and in some cases, it felt like I was pressuring her to answer. Leavy (429) notes that probing has many advantages. Unfortunately, it may lead to dishonest answers, unconscientious responses, and some questions may never be answered. The hidden self contains things I know about myself, but no one else knows. The reason people keep such information private is due to fear, shyness, lack of trust, and uncertainty. In this interview, I was tensed since I was interviewing my senior. However, I used breathing and muscle relaxation techniques, and I kept calm throughout the interview. In the unknown self, it contains information about me that neither the interviewee nor I know about.

Before going to the interview, I considered nurse leaders impolite. Going into the interview, I looked forward to proving the belief. However, this belief was challenged. I came to understand that she is a calm lady. As Jane argued, nursing is a noble profession that requires an inner drive, which I agree with. Over the years in the profession, I have realized that it is not all about money but serving humanity.

In conclusion, the interview with Jane was a success. Various communication skills were used in soliciting information from her. Examples of such skills include probing, paraphrasing, rephrasing, showing empathy, and effective listening skills.  Before starting the interview, I was a bit hesitant and nervous. Resolving such feelings was done through various exercises, including breathing and muscle relaxation skills. Through the use of the Johari window, areas that were a success were noticed. Also, areas of improvement were noted, and lessons were learned that would be used in the future.

Works Cited

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Drabble, Laurie et al. “Conducting Qualitative Interviews by Telephone: Lessons Learned From a Study of Alcohol Use among Sexual Minority and Heterosexual Women.” Qualitative Social Work: Research and Practice, vol 15, no. 1, 2015, pp. 118-133. SAGE Publications, doi: 10.1177/1473325015585613.

Estévez-Mujica, Claudia P., and Eric Quintane. “E-Mail Communication Patterns and Job Burnout.” PLOS ONE, vol 13, no. 3, 2018, p. e0193966. Public Library of Science (Plos), doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0193966.

Leavy, Patricia. The Oxford Handbook of Qualitative Research. , 2014. Internet resource.

Mccrory, Laurie. Communication Skills for the Healthcare Professional. S.L.: Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2020. Print.

Osmanoğlu, Devrim Erginsoy. “Expansion Of The Open Area (Johari Window) And Group Work Directed To Enhancing The Level Of Subjective Well-Being.” Journal of Education and Training Studies, vol 7, no. 5, 2019, p. 76. Redfame Publishing, doi:10.11114/jets.v7i5.4128.