Conduct the interview.

Your discussion post should include:

The setting.

How the interview was conducted.

The questions asked and the responses given.

Anything else you think to be important.

Setting: Hospital – Director’s Office

The interview was conducted as a one-on-one informal discussion in the Director’s office at the hospital during day shift. There were a few interruptions including a code blue however, we eventually got through it and it was very interesting and informative.

Interview Q&A

Q. Please share with me an example of how you helped coach or mentor someone. What improvements did you see in the person’s knowledge or skills?

A. Early in my nursing career, I worked on the Med-Surg unit and was orienting a new nurse to the unit. She had a patient that was very ill and had multi-organ failure. She was waiting for a hospice consultation when the patient coded. At that time, the patient was a DNR therefore she was not resuscitated. The nurse felt helpless and did not’t know what to do. She literally broke down in tears. I had a one-on-one conversation with her and explained the of end of life process and shared my first experience when I lost a patient. She later came back to me and thanked me for sharing with her as it was very helpful to process hers.

Q. Tell me how you organize, plan, and prioritize your work.

A. I begin each day with staffing which sets the stage for the rest of the team and the day. After staffing I meet with the day shift nurses, prior to them getting report to review and discuss any concerns or new implementations. I then meet with other directors and bed management to evaluate our bed availability and what needs to be done with any transfers or discharges. This information is communicated with the charge nurse and he or she will use this information to plan their day. Obviously, there are many obstacles that may arise or issues that may need to be resolved throughout the day which can’t be planned for. At the end of the day there is another staffing meeting to prepare for the next day. I guess you can say each day begins with and ends with staffing, the backbone to a successful unit and patient experience.