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Patient Interview

Cynthia Arce

Hiram College
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Abstract

Everyone experiences being a patient at some point in their lives. Even though everyone

has been a patient, everyone has had their own experiences and different reasons for being cared

for through the health system. A patient was interviewed to view and understand the perspective

of the care that they received through nursing. The patient has a chronic illness that affects her

life at a young age. She had many health professionals that contributed to her healthcare.

However, the health care professional that contributed the most to her healthcare was a registered

nurse. Being a nurse requires many different qualities in order to help the patient feel better not

only physically, but emotionally. Unique aspects were found out of this interview, and

contributed to the authors point of view about nursing. Comparing what was taught versus what

the patient experienced was conducted to find differences and similarities between the two.
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Everyone has been a patient sometime in their life. Whether if they were a patient at a

hospital, clinic, physician’s care, or even at home, they were still a patient. Being a patient in any

of those settings, requires nursing care. The patient that was interviewed for this paper was a

sixteen year old teen. She is Puerto Rican and is a sophomore in high school. This interview was

done at a church, in a quiet area. The reason that this patient was chosen for this interview was

because her illness was very interesting and her healing process was longer than other illnesses.

The purpose of this patient interview was to provide insight of a perspective of a patient relative

to their healthcare in nursing.

The experience that this patient had in the health care delivery system was for a very

important surgery. She had to undergo surgery two times for this particular illness. This patient

had to stay in the hospital for about a week, and her healing process took a little more than two

months. The reason for her contact with the health care delivery system was because she was

diagnosed with scoliosis. Her first surgery was done two years ago. During her first surgery, they

put Harrington rods into her spine to make her spine learn to be straight and not curved. This

passed summer was the second and last surgery that she had to undergo. Her spine was able to

shape correctly so she had to have surgery to take the Harrington rods out of her spine. Since this

surgery required so much work, the patient was put through unimaginable pain.

The patient interacted with many health care professionals during her experience. She

interacted with orthopedic surgeons, a spine physician, neurologists, spine specialists, and

registered nurses. Out of all of the health care providers that visited her, registered nurses visited

her the most. Her expectations of the nursing staff during her experience was that the nurses

would do everything that they needed to do to take care of her. The major concerns that she had

during her illness was worrying that her nurses wouldn’t give her what she needed properly. She
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was also worried about the nurses that were taking care of her being rude because she had a bad

experience with nurses in the past. This made her family switch hospitals to make sure that she

was in better hands. Even though she had a bad experience in the past, she had a very good

experience during both surgeries at the hospital she now attends. Her expectations were met. The

patient had a good experience with all of her physicians and nurses. They explained everything

that they needed to explain and they made sure that she understood the process of the surgery

that she was going to undergo. This made the patient happy knowing that her physicians and

nurses made sure she was in good care. In order to get her back working properly again, the

patient had to be involved in her own care because she had to take therapy after her surgery. The

patient also received education because they told her what the rods were for and what they did.

The patient education that assisted her at home was to walk when she felt she could to get her

body moving. Her family was very incorporated in her care. In the beginning, her family had to

help her with almost everything since she was unable to move on her own.

Her experience with one registered nurse stood out to her the most. The registered nurse

was very helpful and made sure the patient had everything she needed. The patient even

explained that this particular nurse was the best nurse that she ever had. The nurse made sure that

she made the patient comfortable. Stories about the nurse’s life was told to the patient. This made

the patient feel more comfortable and able to be trusted because she was able to understand the

nurse and feel more connected with her. Some types of things that the registered nurse did for her

was check her blood pressure, ask her for her pain level, ask her how she was feeling, gave her

medications, and even gave her snacks. Overall, the patient’s needs were met but sometimes

when she said that she was in pain, she felt the nurse took too long to give her pain medication.

The most important need that the nurse met to the patient was making sure her pain level wasn’t
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high and in control. One thing that the nurse could have done to better assist her could have been

sending another nurse to her room if she was too busy with other patients when she was in pain.

One thing the patient learned from her nurses is that being caring is important. The patient also

wants to be a nurse in the future so she paid attention to how they treated her and was glad that

they treated her well. Therefore, how the nurses treated her stood out to her the most. The patient

wouldn’t change anything about her experience except she wishes that her nurse gave her pain

medication faster. One recommendation that the patient would give her nurse about the care

provided was to keep being caring to all of her patients.

Throughout this interview, there were many of concepts that can be compared to what

was taught in class. One thing that can be compared is the attitudes and behaviors of professional

nurses. Nurses are taught to keep calm and to keep everything about the patient, not the nurse.

That is exactly what the registered nurse that the patient had displayed. She made sure the patient

was comfortable and learned about the patient to make sure that the patients needs were made.

Another thing that was taught in class was health restoration. Health restoration is secondary

care. For example, the patient was ill and had to stay in the hospital for a certain amount of time,

therefore, she received secondary care. Florence Nightingale can also be compared to this nurse.

Florence Nightingale was known as the “lady with the lamp” because she would take her lamp at

night and go to each and every soldier, and just talk to them during the Crimean War. Florence

Nightingale did this to make the soldiers feel at ease and stay calm. She was able to learn about

each soldier, where they came from, and how they felt. This is exactly what the patient’s nurse

did. She made the patient feel at ease because she took the time to learn about the patient and

how she was feeling. This made the patient more comfortable with her nurse. Another concept

that was learned through class that could be compared to this interview is the change in attitude.
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After the patient had surgery, she went through a stage of depression and sadness because she

was unable to do the things that she normally did. Her surgery was done in the summer so this

affected her more because she saw everyone else having fun outside while she had to stay inside.

However, her attitude changed as her healing process became better. She was able to accept that

she had an illness and got through it.

Another thing that was taught in class was chronic illness, which was what the patient

had. Scoliosis is a chronic illness because it developed gradually, and it required ongoing

medical attention. The patient still requires ongoing medical attention because her physicians

have to make sure that her spine stays the same and heals correctly. This chronic illness also

impacted the patients social and economical life. The patient’s healing process was two months

long. The first couple of weeks she had to stay in bed and was unable to walk and could barely

move. She had to take therapy. After a couple of weeks, she had to walk to get her body moving

and train her back to move correctly again. After the first month she was still unable to bend

down and couldn’t do what she loved to do the most, which was sing. She loves to sing in church

but was unable to do it for two months. This affected her the most, and the fact that she couldn’t

do most things affected her not only physically but emotionally. Another concept that can be

compared to what was taught in class and from the reading, is the differences in social and

professional relationships. Social and professional relationships are two very different

relationships that need to taken into caution. The patient’s registered nurse had a professional

relationship with her. The nurse focused on the patients needs and not her own needs. The

outcome of the patient was that her health became better. Therefore, the nurse contributed to

making the patient feel better through nursing.

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The most unique aspect that I found out of this interview was that one of her registered

nurses took the time to actually tell the patient about her life and shared information about

herself. I know that nurses are supposed to do this to make the patient feel comfortable.

However, in my experiences there are not many nurses that actually take the time to do this. If

there’s one thing that I have noticed out of all of my experiences of being at the hospital with my

family members, was that talking to the patient and getting to know them really makes things

easier when you have to work with them. For example, when a nurse and a patient get to know

each other, the patient feels more at ease and is able to be more open with them. What I learned

from this interview about the profession of nursing is that being a nurse is a really important job.

Aside from giving medications to patients, actually taking the time to care for them properly is

the most important. Taking the time to get to know the patient makes it easier for the nurse and

the patient.

There are many people that are afraid of staying overnight at the hospital or just visiting

the hospital in general because they are afraid of how they are going to be treated. Some people

have had good experiences, others not so much. The patient that was interviewed for this paper

went through a long healing process and her time at the hospital was a good experience. The

purpose of this paper was to provide insight of a perspective of a patient relative to their

healthcare in nursing. Comparisons were made from the interview versus what what taught in

class. One thing that was learned through this paper was taking the time to learn about a patients

perspective really gives you insight about how they look and feel towards health care

professionals.
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Works Cited

Black, Beth P. (2014) Professional Nursing Concepts and Challenges. Chapel Hill, North
Carolina: Elsevier Inc

Stopper, Connie. (2017) Intro To Professional Nursing 101. Hiram, Ohio: Hiram College
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Interview Questions
1. Describe one experience that you have had with the health care delivery system.
She had to stay for a few nights at the hospital when she had to get surgery.

2. Which aspect of the health care delivery system did you experience? (e.g. hospital,
clinic, physician’s office, home health care, extended care etc.?
She stayed in a hospital.

3. In general, what was the reason for your contact with the health care delivery
system?
Her reason was because she had scoliosis and she had to get the Harrington rods removed from
her spine, that was put in place two years prior. Her second surgery was done this passed
summer.
4. What health care professionals interacted with you during your experience?
orthopedic surgeons , spine dr, pediatrician, registered nurses, neurologists, spine specialists
5. What were your major concerns during your illness?
She was worried that her nurses wouldn’t give her what she needed properly, and them being
rude to her. She had a bad experience with nurses in the past therefore she switched hospitals.
6. Could you describe your experience with the health care professionals, in particular
with the nurse who provided care?
It was good , they explained everything they needed to explain and they made sure that she knew
the process of the surgery that they were gonna do
7. Describe your experience with one registered nurse?
She was really nice, and she asked what she wanted and was helpful. One of her nurses was the
best nurse that she has ever had. She told her about herself and her life to make her more
comfortable.
8. What types of things did the registered nurse do for you?
She checked her blood pressure, gave her snacks, asked her pain level, how she was feeling, gave
her medications.
9. Did you feel that your needs were met?
Yes but sometimes she said she had pain and they wouldn’t go to her until a few hours later.
10. What was the most important need that the nurse met?
Her pain level, she made sure that it was low and in control.
11. If your needs were not met by the registered nurse, what could s/he have done to
better assist you?
Send another nurse in to help her if she was too busy when she was in pain.