Interview

Introduction

I got the opportunity to interview Mr. Daniels, a Nursing Director, at the Michigan Hospital, given that he had 16 years’ worth of experience. During the interview, I asked questions related to teamwork, patient care, adaptability, time management, communication style, motivation, and core values. The interview lasted an hour, and we held it over skype. Mr. Daniels noted that he desired to lead his peers and that his drive for professional development inspired his move to motivate others.

Interview questions and responses

Teamwork

I asked my respondent to tell me about a time when he demonstrated strong teamwork skills.  Mr. Daniels illustrated that during the COVID-19 pandemic, staff members were overburdened with work. He, therefore, scheduled brainstorming meetings where staff members raised their queries and innovative solutions to handle employees. As the Nursing Director, Mr. Daniels chaired the meetings and had to listen to everyone's ideas, and that as time passed, the hospital exceeded its objectives.

Given the complex tasks and fast-paced workflows in the medical field, nursing directors must learn to handle their physical and emotional job aspects. As such, I asked Mr. Daniels how he takes workplace stress.  He asserted that he attended seminars where one speaker encouraged him to develop and maintain habits that would support his mental and emotional health during his nursing training. In this regard, he has a hobby and engages in physical activities that help him manage stress. Mr. Daniels attends a gym, and he also volunteers in an animal shelter, two hobbies that he finds to be stress-relieving.

Communication Style

It's worth noting that communication in the nursing environment is intertwined in all aspects of health care provision. Effective communication is essential in implementing patient care, assessing patients' welfare, educating patients and caregivers, collaborating with multidisciplinary teams, and delegating tasks (Beanlands & Wang, 2019). In this regard, I asked Mr. Daniels to enlighten me on his preferred communication style. As a nurse leader, he demonstrated how it's imperative to promote communication within the work setting and train peers to develop new communication skills. He highlighted that he ensures communication with his peers by keeping an open-door policy, daily huddles, and sending updates on new policies through emails. Besides, the hospital adopted a policy where staff members are given questionnaires that determine the best communication approach that works best. A scholarly report by Malloch and Porter demonstrates that successful leaders should move others to act and identify their true work purpose (Watson, Porter-O'Grady & Malloch, 2018). Mr. Daniels revealed that he motivates staff members by giving positive affirmations through the handwritten cards he issues and weekly emails he sends to his juniors despite the communication hurdles.

Patient Care

I asked Mr. Daniels to enlighten me on his most challenging part of patient care and how he manages it. He responded by claiming that handling patients with dementia was his greatest challenge. He takes the challenge by looking at the patients while speaking, and he speaks slowly so that they understand him. I found his answer satisfactory since it demonstrated that Mr. Daniel was willing to handle duties that he was uncomfortable with and that he was committed to achieving the hospital's objectives.

Adaptability

Based on study findings, the nursing field is fast-paced, and nurses sometimes have to think on their feet and adapt to crises (Kadir, Kamariah & Saleh, 2017). Therefore, I asked Mr. Daniels to narrate when he was under pressure and how he managed to get the job done. In his reply, he pondered on his first clinical practice, where he was assigned to administer an IV to some patients. The task was stressful, but Mr. Daniels went back to his notes and identified the correct technique to insert the IV into the patients.

Time Management

I asked Mr. Daniels to tell me about when he was overwhelmed with some workload and how he handled the situation. The respondent took me back to his college years, where he was overwhelmed with coursework as he pursued his nursing degree. He created a schedule that helped him manage all the assignments and had them submitted on time to resolve the workload menace. He advised me never to sacrifice the quality or accuracy of the workload since this would have disastrous consequences.

Motivation and Core Values

I asked Mr. Daniesl why he chose to become a nurse in the first place. He narrated how before joining high school, his aunt was diagnosed with cerebral malaria. As such, he regularly visited the hospital and was motivated by the hard-working nurses who made an effort to improve his aunt's wellbeing. Everyone understood that her aunt had slim chances of survival, but the nurses were dedicated to making her cheerful and comfortable and implementing the doctor's treatment plans. Mr. Daniel was motivated by other nurses to follow the nursing career path.