title: Eliciting assessment data from the patient who is difficult to interview.
abstract: The patient interview is an essential part of the assessment phase of the nursing process. Ensuring a productive interview involves controlling, as much as possible, the interview environment as well as the nurse's verbal and nonverbal communication. Patients who are cognitively impaired, angry, anxious, depressed, manipulative, or seductive can make this interview process more challenging. Working individually with each of these possible patient dynamics in a calm, controlled, and knowledgeable way can help facilitate the interview process and pave the way for fewer problems in the future. Frequently, the interview may involve the discussion of sensitive topics such as terminal illness, suicide, or sexuality. Gathering information and developing a comfort level in broaching these issues with patients are important goals for nursing professionals. Reading, attending workshops, consultation with professionals, and most important, self-assessment of these sensitive topics are all useful tools in obtaining those goals.
authors.affiliation: Medical College of Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: B G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Braverman
mesh_terms: D003071:Cognition; D004644:Emotions; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D010361:Patients / Q000523:psychology*