D030 Interview Self-Assessment

D030 Interview Self-Assessment

Role and/or Title of the Interviewees

Interviewee One: Clinical Practice and Instructional Role

The first interviewee works in an outpatient clinical environment, where she is primarily responsible for overseeing ketamine administration. Her duties encompass direct patient care, managing medications, and ensuring strict adherence to clinical safety protocols. As a junior practitioner, she is currently developing her leadership and administrative capabilities while refining her clinical judgment. Beyond these responsibilities, she serves as a clinical instructor, actively involved in mentoring and educating nursing students. Professionally, she holds the positions of Family Nurse Practitioner and Clinical Instructor. At the time of the interview, she was enrolled in a doctoral program, though the specific area of her doctoral study was not disclosed.

Interviewee Two: Air Medical Transport and Leadership Role

The second interviewee holds a senior leadership position within the largest Life Flight organization in the region. Her role includes managing high-acuity patient transport, coordinating emergency rescue missions, and facilitating transfers between medical facilities. She is also deeply engaged in training and mentoring flight crews to prepare them for complex and unpredictable clinical emergencies. In addition to her leadership duties, she functions as a clinical instructor. Her credentials include Life Flight Nurse and RN-BSN, and she is widely recognized for her extensive expertise and leadership within her specialized field.

Summary of Interviewee Roles and Titles

Perceptions of the Interview Experience

Overall Reflections on the Interview Process

The interview process was largely positive and provided valuable insights into advanced clinical leadership roles within nursing. However, there was a significant limitation in accessing individuals holding formal nursing executive roles. This limited opportunity curtailed deeper exploration of system-level decision-making and strategic leadership, revealing the need for future engagement with higher-level nursing executives to expand understanding of leadership within healthcare systems.

Observations of Professional Dynamics

An interesting professional dynamic was observed during the interviews. Both interviewees serve as clinical instructors in the same department where I am employed, and to a certain extent, I have a supervisory role over them. Despite this, both possess considerable expertise and leadership authority that surpasses my current professional scope. This situation highlighted the complexities inherent in healthcare leadership structures, illustrating the distinction between formal positional authority and the informal influence that arises from professional experience and competence.

Challenges Encountered During the Interviews

Scheduling and Logistical Barriers

One of the main challenges was coordinating interview times due to the full-time schedules of the participants. Finding mutually convenient time slots required considerable flexibility and extended the overall timeline for completing the interviews.

Variability in Experience and Communication Confidence

Differences in the interviewees’ experience levels affected the flow of the discussions. The Family Nurse Practitioner, being earlier in her leadership journey, displayed less confidence and needed more prompting to expand on her answers. In contrast, the Life Flight Nurse communicated with greater assurance and fluency, reflecting her extensive leadership experience. This disparity required adaptability in interviewing strategies to ensure effective communication with both participants.

Transcription and Data Organization

Converting the interview dialogues into clear, structured narratives was a time-intensive process. However, this effort enhanced the clarity of the data and helped to identify significant themes aligned with the research objectives.

Future Strategies for Interview Preparation and Implementation

Refinement of Interview Questions

For future interviews, questions will be more targeted and advanced. Reviewing peer examples underscored the importance of including queries related to executive functions such as budget management, policy formulation, research involvement, and scholarly activities. Such refinements would deepen the quality and relevance of the information collected.

Improved Documentation and Transcription Methods

Though the interviews were conducted in a supportive environment, future efforts could benefit from using transcription software or closed-captioning technologies. These tools would improve transcription accuracy, reduce editing time, and enable more focus on qualitative data analysis.

Conclusion

The interview process provided meaningful insights into diverse nursing leadership roles and offered professional development opportunities. Challenges encountered during the interviews informed areas for enhancement in research design and execution, especially regarding interview question development and transcription efficiency. Applying these lessons will contribute to stronger qualitative research and leadership growth initiatives in nursing.

References

American Nurses Association. (2023). Nursing leadership and management competencies. American Nurses Association Publishing.

Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2018). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (4th ed.). SAGE Publications.

Finkelman, A. (2020). Leadership and management for nurses: Core competencies for quality care (4th ed.). Pearson.

Polit, D. F., & Beck, C. T. (2021). Nursing research: Generating and assessing evidence for nursing practice (11th ed.). Wolters Kluwer.