The stark juxtaposition between my first and my second SP interview really demonstrates the progress that I have made with my professional communication throughout the year. The first SP interview really caught me off guard, as I had never spoken to someone in such formal context as we did with Benny (i.e. getting a story from a patient). I did not really know how to speak to him, how sensitive I would have to be about certain topics, and most importantly I was scared of the conversation becoming dry and having awkward silence. Due to this, I had a list of questions ready to ask in my head. In hindsight, this was not a good idea, since I ended up just trying to check boxes I pre-determined, rather than actually listening to what Benny was saying. This resulted in me asking were close-ended question that did not …show more content…
really foster a converstation. Also, I did not know how to respond to things I did not foresee, such as Benny asking for money. I also tried to use silence as way to show empathy instead of actually vocalizing it. Our post interview talk with Kevin was very valuable in that regard, because he addressed many of the areas I had concerns with.
Kevin brought up the fact that we should not have too many silences and ask more open-ended question so that they have the opportunity to talk about things themselves. Also, he brought up that we could show more empathy throughout the chat by just acknowledging how terrible some of the things he went through were (such as losing his father). Furthermore, when an uncomfortable situation arises (like the $30), it’s best to just be honest with the person, say we did not know about it beforehand, but that we will try to figure it out together afterwards by talking to management (in that specific situation). That being said, when we went into the second SP interview, I think that I did a far better job of communicating well with Benny (such as setting up the context of the conversation right from the start: it’s all confidential, we don’t want to make him uncomfortable, etc.). I also learnt that it is okay to ask delve a bit deeper and ask things like what his diagnosis is, as long as it was asked in a respectful and considerate
manner. Overall, Benny said he felt very comfortable with us during the second interview, and we learnt a lot more about the more sensitive topics in his past while remaining empathetic, and we were able to minimize our awkward silences which shows how I’ve improved my professional communication. (Evidence: Inquiry SP Reflection in the submissions folder). Another way I have shown an improvement professional communication is through my volunteering at SHEC. SHEC is a peer-run health promotion, education, and referral service for McMaster University students. Some of the free services we offer include confidential peer support and anonymous and confidential pregnancy testing. In such a setting, it very crucial to be able to communicate effectively and appropriately with your peers. That said, when I first started volunteering with SHEC, it was very difficult for me to talk to the people who came in for pregnancy tests or peer support. This was because I did not how or what to say, which resulted in some very awkward converstations. I often found myself asking my shiftmates to help the person instead because I believed I was not suitable. However, the SHEC coordinators were very helpful in setting up training weekends where we would run through possible scenarios and practice what we would do during those situations. Eventually, I began to become much more comfortable with taking on the role of a peer supporter. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I would even volunteer for the task. Overall, I feel that although my professional communication showed a significant improvement over the year, it still remains the area I have the most room for improvement. I wish to continue improving my professional communication skills by pushing myself to try new things requiring communication skills.
His story of how they thought he had a heart problem, but it really was just a communication problem is baffling, however, it is not uncommon. “About 80% of all serious medical errors involve miscommunication during care transitions (to different care settings)” (Govette, 2016). Health care facilities always talk about how working as a team and communication is important to the facilities success, but it is often overlooked. I believe the reason for this, is that most facilities use text as a way to communicate and often don’t use any other methods. However, the miscommunication problem could be solved if they met with other health care professionals, or even talked to them over the phone to discuss the problems with a particular patient. Even just double checking with someone to make sure they read the patients file would help the situation
The first interview I scheduled was with the Assistant Village Manager, Ms. Jablonski. We had a phone conversation that made it seem like she did not have time for the conversation. She had my questions ahead of time and was able to prepare. She mentioned that she was busy and only had twenty-five minutes to talk and said she would not have any other time to speak to me. I felt rushed and pressured into picking the most important questions from my list. The fact that it was a phone conversation made it even more difficult because I barely had time to prepare to take notes and that put a damper on the excitement I had for the interview. It made me feel like she didn’t have time for me or, even more so,
I must admit I began the interview with a few preconceived notions about my interviewee but as with any interview, if you pay particular attention to the person’s verbal and non-verbal cues it can give you tremendous insight as to who someone is at heart. Additionally, the medium in which an interview is conducted can greatly influence how the answers are interpreted. The interviewer needs to understand how to interpret what is being said and how it’s being said regardless of the medium. Interviews can also tell you a lot by what the person doesn 't say by interpreting the silence or noticing if the person strays off topic. Furthermore, interviews can give insight into the interviewer as well
What surprised me the most was the how easy it was to conduct the interview. It’s not as scary asking someone else questions rather than answering them. My confidence got the best of me, I had written my questions ahead of time, but I hadn’t really practiced saying them out loud as a consequence of this decision Miller didn’t understand what a couple my questions meant. Also, I found it was easy to maintain eye contact but, the most difficult thing I found was it was hard jolting down her answers as I went along because her questions were so abrupt. Next time I conduct an interview I will become very familiar with all my questions so I can establish a better
Ricardo Mendez is a business owner/manager of Family Care Specialist, a health care clinic. Although he only has only been with Family Care Specialist for seven years, he has held a managerial role for approximately thirty years. He operates five clinics across the Rio Grande Valley and roughly 40 employees report to him.
Interviewing and research skills are needed within the social work profession. Effective communication skills are one of the most crucial components of a social worker’s job. Every day, social workers must communicate with clients to gain information, convey critical information and make important decisions (Zeiger, 2017). This interview experience was an opportunity to explore the daily challenges and rewards of a licensed social worker. I was excited for the opportunity to interview a social worker in the gerontology sector as this is a specialty I am considering. This meeting allowed me to explore the educational steps of being a social worker, practices of the agency, the clients who are served, and the challenges the agency has.
As I sat down with Jordan Fisher, on April 30th, we looked out the window to a gloomy, rainy day. It was wet and nasty day, but Jordan agreed to sit down with me to discuss his position as an HR officer. Jordan started with the Federal Government, 30 years ago at the age of 20. Now 50 Jordan is looking forward to retiring with his wife, stating “I enjoy it here, I really do—but I can’t wait to retire.” While Jordan plans to work for one more year before retiring, the knowledge and experience that he has gained from the position will never leave him. Jordan has been a very successful H.R. official because he has integrity, used effective communication and proper documentation.
Captain Rob Geis agreed to be interviewed and share his experiences with the next generation of Social Workers. Native to Ohio, he graduated High School in 1979, he continued his education at Ohio State University from 1982-1986, completing his Masters in Social Work. For the past 24 years, he has served as a Social Worker in the United States Army. In his current position he is responsible for the Department of Social Work Services. Previous positions have included: two assignments as a Division Social Worker, Medical Inpatient Social Worker, Chief of Social Work, Division Chief of Mental Health, Clinical Director of Army Substance Abuse Program, Combat Operation Stress Control Commander, and General Staff Officer (Geis, 2012). Academic positions have included both, the Army Long Term Health Education and Training (LTHET) as well as the Command and General Staff College.
The interview was conducted March 23, 2016, late afternoon I contacted Mr. Malone via cell phone. I then stated my name and introduced the topic of the interview. Afterwards I informed Mr. Malone about the types of questions I was going to ask him and told him to speak freely and not to answer anything that makes him uncomfortable. All of the questions I asked were good but there was a few that
79). After my introduction I asked a closed question “is that OK” (Interview 2015, 0:44) in order to receive a go ahead confirmation. I then preceded with an open question “what brings you here today” (Interview 2015, 0:47) to ascertain Rebecca’s reason/s for attending. Similarly, I asked Rebecca two closed questions and an open question to first demonstrate comprehension by probing for clarification and then to encourage her continuation (Interview 2015, 2:08-2:20). Ivey, Ivey & Zalaquett (2010) suggest that open and closed questions are a fundamental part of the listening skills a counsellor develops, thus a vital aspect of the counselling micro-skills effectiveness. With this in mind, my overall questions were effective, although with practice, my questioning could improve my awareness of the effects of suggestive or directive questions (Ivey, Ivey & Zalaquett 2010, p. 16). For example, I implied that when Rebecca’s other daughter went through a similar ordeal, Rebecca did not faint, thus suggesting or even possibly directing Rebecca to look at a particular aspect of her story or even change direction, instead of paraphrasing to show comprehension, thus supporting and encouraging the flow of her story (Interview 2015, 7:18; Gelard & Gelard
...more relaxed around me. I was comfortable using clarification throughout the interview and it helped me better understand what Alton was saying. So I achieved my purpose in using it because it cleared up any confusion I had over some of Alton’s statements. When I was trying to figure out if Alton would be uncomfortable living outside of his neighborhood I asked, “So you would want to find an apartment in this neighborhood?” Providing information was a technique I could of done better with, especially in regards to providing Alton information about Kennebec Behavioral Health. So although I used this technique during my interview, I do not think I achieved my purpose in providing Alton with the information that he needed. A couple examples from the interview are, “I made a phone call since our last session,” and, “I do have resources and people to contact for housing.”
...th the patient I kept thinking that if this were my mother how would I want the nurse to treat her. I tried to behave in the way I would expect a nurse to treat me. I had preconceived notions before meeting the patient and they were all laid to rest almost immediately, honestly I was nervous. But once I started it began to feel comfortable and the interview just flowed naturally.
The interviewee and I both felt very comfortable, I didn’t sense much distress until I got to the controversial topics, which is great. Both parties should be comfortable when it comes to an interview. Also, although I did wait long periods before talking sometimes and I also cut her off once, I do feel like I did get a decent amount of information from her. I also asked open-ended questions too. I actually didn’t ask any leading questions in this interview which is why I got such lengthy answers from her but I did compound some questions which I wouldn 't do next time because the trend seems to be that she would respond to the last question I asked instead of acknowledging everything I said. Another thing I feel that I did well was listening. I did not talk very much, she did the talking for about ¾ of the interview which is
Choosing to interview Professor Mueller gave me no grief. I chose to interview my psychology professor because I am a psychology major, and I was curious to know what process he went through to become a psychology professor. Asking Professor Mueller in person if I could interview him was no big deal, and emailing him to set up a time was painless. After being in class with Professor Mueller for two weeks I felt no intimidation because even during class he openly answers all questions. Prior to the interview, I anticipated how to introduce myself to my professor and inquire questions about the major. Not wanting to be underprepared for the interview, I composed a list of questions for the interview.
Nathan also commented that I was really good at articulating the responses to the questions. Therefore I was amazed by the comments I received from the interviewer and the observers. I felt like I could have been even better if I overcame my