is an interview with a health care professional who works with dying

patients. In the planning for your project, construct open ended

questions that will encourage your interviewee to talk about his or her

work with patients who are dying. Include topics that bring the

patients’ loved ones into the conversation.

Submit a list of 8 to 10 open ended questions for my review before you conduct the interview. Due no later than Nov. 16.

Write a three page paper about the interview with a health care
professional. Tease out themes from the interviews. In your paper,
because it is only three pages, you might want to address 2 or 3 themes
from your interview. Remember, your open-ended questions encourage your
interviewee to talk. In this way, the interviewee will talk about the
things that are significant and meaningful to him or her, and not
necessarily as a response to your questions. Do not repeat what the
interviewee says, in other words don’t use quotes. You may use a quote
only if the words convey something that your own interpretation cannot.
Write the paper by introducing the topic, set out the themes and tell
about the interview. Do it in much the same way as you would if you
were talking to a friend about a conversation you had with a third
party. When you submit your paper, include a copy of your ‘thank you’
letter to your interviewee.

Interview guide and thank you letter draft attached.

Three pages, double spaced, 12 font, one inch margins.

Guide for Interviewing a health care Professional

1.Call someone you know in health care and ask if they know of a person you could talk to regarding the interview.Or ask if they know a place you can call.

2.Search for local hospice services and cold call.Tell whoever answers what your assignment is and ask if someone would be agreeable to being interviewed.

3.When you have a name and number, call and make a date for the interview.Think about when you will be available and where you might want to meet – coffee shop or at the place where your interviewee works.Estimate your interview at about 30 minutes or so.

4.When you meet your interviewee, introduce yourself and present your MATC ID card.Thank he/she for agreeing to meet.

5.You probably will have some small talk before you begin asking questions.Ask your interviewee, “can we start?” when you are ready.Remember always that your interviewee has agreed to take the time and effort to meet with you.Suggest an end time and ask if that is all right or ask if there are time constraints.Do they need to leave at a certain time.

6.Begin asking your first question. (Your questions should be open-ended.This way, the interviewee can interpret the question and formulate her/his answer.If something comes up that you think you want to know more about, you can prompt the interviewee to “say more about that.”)

7.Offer to send your interviewee a copy of your finished paper.

8.When you have concluded the interview, thank your interviewee again for agreeing to meet with you.Be sure you have the correct spelling of her/his name, the organization they work for and the address.

9.Write a formal letter of thanks to your interviewee.Include a snipet from your conversation to personalize the letter.When you send the letter, include a copy of your paper if your interviewee was interested in reading it.Attach a copy of the letter to your paper when you submit it.

Question Guide

Formulate ten open ended questions.Try using ‘how’ to begin the questions.

Sample questions are:

“Every day you go to work where people are actively dying.How do you turn it off at the end of the day and get on with your own life, your personal family life?”

“Have you ever developed a close relationship with a patient?If so, how did you deal with the patient’s eventual death?”

If your interviewee starts talking about something surprising to you and you want to know more about it, ask if they will expand on the topic or prompt in another way suitable to the conversation.

Format for a formal thank you letter:

Date

Ms Janet Finkelstine

Hospice Care Takers

4551 Maple St.

West Allis, WI 55531

Dear Ms. Finkelstine,

Blah, blah, blah…

Blah

Sincerely,

(sign your name)

Frederick Gray

Student

MATC Oak Creek Campus