NRSG139 Gibbs Reflective Model

The patient interview is the initial method to gain comprehensive data about the patient to provide holistic care and effective treatment (Andrea & Kotowski, 2017). Thousands of health assessment interviews are performed by healthcare professionals during their carrier (Slade & Sergent, 2019). Effective communication skills play a vital role in carrying out the appropriate health assessment interview (Andrea & Kotowski, 2017). In this essay, Gibbs's reflective cycle (1998) (Potter, 2015) will be utilized to reflect on the feeling while performing the health assessment interview of a patient during the clinical placement. In the end, the conclusion of the essay will be given.

Description

During my placement at the start of the shift, I and my buddy nurse were handed over about a new admission of a 62-year-old lady Miss Jo (pseudonym). The nurse told us that the health assessment interview was done and documented. There was a new admission of a 62-year-old lady MISS J. (pseudonym). After the handover, my buddy nurse asked me to re-take her health assessment interview as it will be a good experience for me. During the health assessment interview, I came to know that the patient had a recent fall at the reception of the hospital which was missing in the documents and she was not documented as a risk for fall. I told the situation to my buddy nurse and she corrected the mistake and put the patient on risk for fall.

Feelings

At the start of the interview, I was nervous due to a lack of confidence and interviewing skills. However, when I introduced myself and utilized interviewing techniques, which I learned from theory, I built a rapport with the patient and stared feeling confident. At the end of the interview, I was happy to find out a critical mistake in the documentation, especially in the risk assessment form. Appreciation from the buddy nurse also gave me confidence in communicating with other patients. 

Evaluation

The things that went well in this incidence was that I developed confidence in taking health assessment interview from the patients effectively by utilizing different techniques like active listening, adaptive questions, showing empathy and care (Crawford et al., 2017). Literature shows that active listening, empathy, and care helps in developing rapport between healthcare and the patient and this increase the confidence of both patient and the health professional during the interview (Price, 2017). I felt happy and proud by pointing out the risk for the patient and appreciation from the buddy nurse gave me the confidence and motivated me in taking health assessment interviews from other patients. Literature shows that appreciation from the seniors built self-confidence and motivate the student nurses (Papathanasiou et al., 2014). 

One negative experience I observed in this event is that the busy schedule of the nurses taking health assessment interviews took a lot of time and the mistake can happen while taking an interview in a hurry. The nurse who took an initial health assessment was in a hurry due to the change of the shift and missed out on the critical risk factor for Miss Jo. Literature shows that busy schedules and ineffective time management can result in adverse health outcomes for the patient (Said, 2014). 

Critical Analysis

Health assessment interview helps in determining the past and present health-related complaint of the patients (Andrea & Kotowski, 2017). The data collected from the interview help in setting the treatment goals for the patient(Slade & Sergent, 2019). Building rapport is important in collecting accurate information from the patient during the interview. Literature shows that building rapport with patients enables nurses to gain accurate information (Crawford et al., 2018). The patients start trusting the nurse and tell nurses about their past and present health concerns without any hesitation (Price, 2017). Active listening is one of the major factors that contribute to developing rapport between nurses and patients (Blake & Blake, 2019). Showing empathy and words of concerns, during emotional information like information about parent's death, proved to be an important factor in developing the rapport between nurses and the patients (Jones et al., 2016). 

Studies show that the nursing shift remains very busy as the nurses have to perform multitasks during the shift (Kohtz et al., 2017). Proper time management is very important in working effectively. New admission may increase the work of the nurses and can affect the time planner of the nurses (Kohtz et al., 2017). Hence nurses tend to do hurry in health assessment interviews of the patients. The chance of mistakes and missed information become more.

Conclusion

Effective communication skills are important in developing the rapport between the patient and the nurses. This will help in effective health assessment of the patient, especially during the initial health assessment interview. Techniques like active listening, showing empathy and care and asking adaptive questions. The interview could affect time management. The nurses should improve time management skills and utilized the approved health assessment tool to avoid mistakes and time loss.  

Action plan

In the future, if I face the same situation where time will be less, and I have to perform health assessment of the new admission then I will first develop a rapport with the patient by utilizing good communication techniques.  Then I will utilize the approved health assessment tool and I will make sure that I completed the tool thoroughly without any mistake and also in time. In case of a shortage of time, I would request my fellow nurses and delegate the remaining task to them. Literature shows that support from the staff and delegation of tasks helps in time management (Kohtz et al., 2017). 

Conclusion

Nursing interviewing for health assessment of the patient after the admission is very important in determining the medical history and present complaints of the patient to provide effective treatment and minimizing the adverse effects. Effective communication techniques like active listening, showing empathy, asking adoptive questions and showing care are effective in developing rapport and collecting appropriate data during the interview. Although it is a time-consuming process. The mistakes can be minimized, and time can be managed while taking interviews utilizing approved health assessment tools and delegating tasks to fellow nurses.