Talk about a time where you had to work with the family of a particular patient. Were there any obstacles you had to overcome to work effectively with them?
"During my clinical rotations in college, I was fortunate to have worked in a large ICU setting in a hospital. While there, I was working with patients that were critically ill and often unable to speak. With one particular patient who had been admitted to our ICU after an auto accident, my preceptor and I entered the room to start a mechanical ventilator since the patient had a collapsed lung. As the family arrived, they looked for answers to what was happening to their loved one and wanted to know what we were doing to her. Calmly, I let them know that the machine we were using would enable her to breathe while the physicians could monitor the status of the rest of the systems. By staying calm and explaining what was happening, the family was relieved a bit until the physician was able to return and talk to them further."
"Having worked in a hospital setting for many years, I have fortunately been able to speak with many family members of patients that were in my care. For most, they are simply trying to understand what is happening with their family member. I have recently been working in the NICU with premature babies, and the families here are the most vulnerable and scared. On a recent baby I was working with, I could easily tell that the parents were scared and in a state of shock. To help calm them down, I reassured them that the therapy I was providing was helping their child build strength in their lungs to be able to breathe on their own. At that moment, they became enthralled in what I was doing and finally saw that a great outcome was achievable out of a dire situation."
As a Respiratory Therapist, there will be times that you need to work with or communicate with the family members of a patient. For this question, your interviewer will be looking to gauge how you handle interactions with the family or caregivers of your patient. If possible, think about a time when you had to provide education to a patient's family or had to work with a family member or caregiver that was being difficult. Try to explain how you had to overcome any difficulties during the process to demonstrate your ability to problem solve and work with people.
"During my time working as an RT for an in-home care agency, I had to train many patient's family members on how to use and maintain equipment like CPAP machines and ventilators. For one particular patient, I was working with a family that was very low-income and not well educated. Being that the patient was pretty immobile, I trained both the spouse and live-in child to operate the patient's oxygen tanks. In training them, I had to use elementary language and have them show me that they understood the proper procedures to take. As a last measure, I left my contact card for them if they had any issues. In my weekly visits with the patient, the family members were very thankful and seemed to learn the unit quickly."
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