Nephrology Mock Interview
Master 35 Nephrology interview questions covering dialysis, transplant, and critical care expertise.
Question 28 of 35
As a Nephrologist in our practice, you will often have to deliver discouraging news to patients and their families. How do you handle such hard situations?
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Darby Faubion has been a Nurse and Allied Health Educator for over 20 years. She has clinical experience in several specialty areas, including pediatrics, medical-surgical, critical care, and hospice.
Delivering discouraging news can be difficult for any healthcare provider. Your interviewer does not expect you to react as though you are resilient to all challenging situations. Rather, they want to know that you can get the job done while bringing a compassionate and educational approach to their patients.
Darby Faubion has been a Nurse and Allied Health Educator for over 20 years. She has clinical experience in several specialty areas, including pediatrics, medical-surgical, critical care, and hospice.
"Delivering bad news is hard. I always try to be soft-spoken and give the patient and their families time to ask questions. It's important to remember that one day I may be the one receiving bad news and to treat those I am caring for the way I would like to be treated."
Ryan Brunner has over ten years of experience recruiting, interviewing, and hiring candidates in the healthcare, public service, and private manufacturing/distribution industries.
If possible, you'll want to use a direct example of a time you had to break bad news to a patient. While you do this, describe the personalized and empathetic approach you used with the patient (and their family). Highlight your ability to educate the patient on the next steps and how you work with them moving forward.
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Anonymous Answer
If I know I will have to deliver bad news, I like to ask the patient to bring a support person to be present in advance. I often provide a quick introduction and warning shot I will be delivering bad news, but honestly, I like to tell the bad news in a sensitive way upfront, so the rest of the consultation can be spent focused on helping the patient process their emotions and answer questions they may have. I think it is important to provide only the minimum necessary information in the first consult and book a follow-up appointment soon after to follow up with the advice to write down any questions they have in between and use that second appointment to provide more information, answer their questions, and only ask the patient to make decisions then.
Krista's Feedback
This is a great, well-thought-out answer. Your response shows the interviewer that you are compassionate and sensitive to your patient's needs.
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