Student Name: Samantha Boyd

Date of Recording: January 25th, 2011

Patients Initials: R.H.

Introduction/Objective: Interview conducted in day room which is a relatively small room with several
windows and a door that leads into the hallway. R.H. is sitting against the wall in a chair. The room is
well lit and quite with the exception of two other interviewing groups. The objective of this process
recording is to see why the patient continues a pattern of social isolation.

Communication
Interviewer (Student): Interviewee: Analysis of Interaction
Technique
Good morning, my Hi, I am --. How are Introduction. Imparting Put the patient at ease.
name is Samantha and I you? (Good eye Information. Hoped this would make
am a student nurse. contact. Sitting with the patient feel more
What’s your name? (Sits both feet flat on floor) safe in disclosing
across from patient. information.
Good eye contact and (Therapeutic)
smiling.)

I am doing well this Okay but not too good. Imparting Information. Once again, giving the
morning. How has your (Crosses right leg over patient information
morning been? left. Slowly taps foot.) about myself so he feels
more enlightened to
share. (Therapeutic)

Is there something I just like to be alone. Questioning. Questioning was used

bothering you this (Begins to look around to keep the
morning? the room.) conversation going and
on the right tract. This
question opened open
communication about
the objective.
(Therapeutic)

So you like to be alone. I can think more clearly. Paraphrasing. Paraphrased what the
Why is that? (Sits back (Puts both feet flat on Questioning. patient had previously
in chair) floor then crosses left said to make sure I was
leg over right) understanding his
communication.
Questioning allowed me
to find out what about
being alone is appealing
to him. (Therapeutic)
Think more clearly,
what do you mean by
this?
How long have you felt
nervous or anxious
around people?
Does the alcohol make
it easier for you to be
around people?
Does being in this
situation make you feel
anxious or nervous?
Well Mr. --, I will let you
get back to your normal
activities. It was very
nice to meet you.
When people are
around I can’t think. I
get nervous and
anxious. (Moves around
in chair. Poor eye
contact. Soft speaking.)
Since I was about 12 Probing/Questioning.
years old. When I
started doing alcohol.
(Slight trembling of
hands noted. Poor eye
contact. Speech is hard
to understand.)
No. I just like to be Probing/Questioning.
alone. (Patient begins
to look more nervous.
He looks from left to
right. Poor eye contact.
Taps foot quickly and
hands begin to tremble
more noticeably.)
Yes. I just want to be Probing/Questioning.
alone. I like to be alone.
(Eyes look from left to
right. Both feet flat on
the ground as he
continues to tap his
foot.)
Nice to meet you. Terminating interaction.
(Quickly leaves the
room.)
Clarifying Information. I ask the patient to
clarify what he meant
by thinking more
clearly. I could have
used a more directly
focused question here.
(Therapeutic)
I felt that questioning
about the origination of
his social isolation may
have been helpful in
determining the cause.
(Therapeutic)
The patient began to
pull back at this point
due to the directness of
my questioning. I
should have broken up
the questioning with
other forms of
communication.
(Therapeutic)
At this point the patient
became very nervous. I
do think it was in part
to the number of
questions I was asking.
This question should
have been reworded to
be more of an open
question in which he
could have elaborated.
As the patient became
more anxious, I could
tell that the line of
communication was
quickly closing. I ended
the conversation hoping
I would be able to try to
 speak to him at a
different time in a
quieter setting.
(Therapeutic)

Summary Comments:
I feel that I did use therapeutic communication when speaking to this particular patient. I feel that I
should have used more of a variety of styles in order to make the patient feel more at ease during the
interview. The conversation did end early but I feel that it was appropriate due to the increasing anxiety
the patient was experiencing and his decreasing communication. This was a very education experience
as I never realized before how difficult it is to interview a person while making them feel comfortable
with the situation. I did not realize it would be so difficult to obtain the needed information from the
patient.