Interview Assessment #4

Name of Professional: ​Sherri McGlaughlin

Profession: ​Nurse Practitioner

Company: ​Parkland Hospital/UT Southwestern Medical Center

Date of Interview: ​February 3, 2020

Assessment:

My fourth interview was done with nurse practitioner Sherri McGlaughlin. From this

interview I gained insight on the daily duties of a nurse, and how their work directly correlates

with and helps physicians. Although Mrs. McGlaughlin is not the direct field of study that I want

to pursue, being cardiology, I still gained crucial knowledge from her about the medical field in

general and the importance of nurses to the care of patients. I believe that understanding and

seeing the first-hand interactions that nurses have with doctors is crucial to my understanding of

the medical field as a whole. In the medical field, there is an increasing prevalence of physicians

undermining and not appreciating nurses. By experiencing a nurse’s first-hand experience, I

believe that I will be a lot more appreciative and empathetic to nurses.

By interviewing nurse McGlaughlin, I learned a lot about the roles that a nurse has, the

importance of having a support system when going into the medical field, and how interpersonal

speaking is crucial. To begin, I asked Mrs. McGlaughlin what her daily job duties as a nurse

practitioner are. She explained to me that she works on a rotational schedule. This means that

every two week she focuses on a different task that is crucial to the treatment and well being of

the patient. Furthermore, she explained to me that nurses complete key procedures on patients

that doctors do not. This shows and proves how nurses are integral in the medical field to the
care of patients. Moreover, Mrs. McGlaughlin stated how due to the intense rigor and stress of

the medical field, having a solid and reliable support system is integral. Having a supportive

family and life outside of one’s career is important for one’s mental health. Likewise,

participating in activities outside of the medical field is important and beneficial to maintain a

healthy work-home life balance. Finally, interpersonal speaking is crucial for all jobs in the

medical field. Nurse McGlaughlin stated that it is a necessary skill to be able to communicate the

proper information to patients and doctors alike. Many doctors presently have poor interpersonal

speaking skills, which correlates to miscommunication between patients and other physicians,

and this represents the physicians that are coined as “bad.”

In conclusion, this interview was very beneficial for me and my ISM career. It gave me

influential and important insight into the medical field as a whole. It also helped me understand

the significance that nurses hold in the medical field. By interviewing a nurse practitioner, I think

I have a new and better understanding of nurses in general. I also now understand the role that

nurses play in relation to physicians. Furthermore, I also understand how interpersonal speaking,

and speaking skills in general, play an important role in medicine. I believe my experience and

background in the medical field will help me with this quality. This interview has been beneficial

by providing me the necessary information to see the intricacies of the medical field, and

whether or not I would be a good fit for this field.