Talk about a time you had difficulty working with the parent of a patient or a caregiver of a patient. What made that interaction difficult and how did you overcome it?
"During my fellowship on an inpatient rehab unit, I was part of a family conference to prepare them for a patient discharge the following week. The patient had been involved in a car accident and had suffered a traumatic brain injury. After rehabbing with us, the patient had all home modifications in place and was in a good place health wise to be discharged. While most of her family was prepared for her to come home, her oldest son became angry with our staff and the his other family members for okaying the discharge. Our SLP and OT, in front of everyone in the meeting, simply began talking to the son about the progress that his mother had made and how much more progress she would make at home. The calmly explained that both of them would be making home visits to her on a regular basis to ensure that her progressed continued. By ending the meeting with him thanking the SLP and OT, I saw that their calm demeanor and their ability to educate the son were key factors in the situation."
"A few years back, my team had determined that a 4th grade student should be discharged from therapy as he had made significant progress in his writing and was excelling in the classroom. The child's parents were not agreeable to this plan and threatened to involve an outside therapist. My administrator called them in to meet with us so we could fully explain our reasoning for the decision. Prior to the meeting, myself and the teach prepared all of the data that we could to show the child's progress. By staying calm in the meeting and taking an empathetic approach to their point of view, the parents agreed that discharge was appropriate and they left the meeting with smiles on their faces knowing their child had progressed that much."
Working with caregivers, parents or family members of a patient is a necessity in your career as an SLP. At some point in your career, you will experience a difficult person to work with or have a difficult conversation with them at some point. If you haven't experienced this yet, you likely will at some point in your career. Your interviewer is looking for a specific difficult time you had working with someone close to a patient of yours and how you handled that situation. They will be looking to see how you reacted to and resolved any issues in a calm and efficient manner.
"As a young SLP in a school setting, I was working with a child that had a mother that was completely disengaged from her education. During the students IEP, I could tell that the mother could really care less about the progress of her young daughter and I was very distraught immediately following the meeting. Putting my emotions aside quickly, I asked our administrator if I could invite the mother in to talk face to face about her child's need for speech therapy and the importance her home life would play in this. In calling the mother back in, she was very hesitant at first but then agreed. I prepared for the meeting by keeping data simple and explained her daughter's situation to her in layman's terms. At the end of the meeting, the mother thanked me for meeting with her and stated she didn't realize that her daughter was having issues with her speech. The mother agreed that our time together was necessary and became engaged in the process moving forward."
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Anonymous Answer
During my time at our university interprofessional clinic, my clinic advisor and I were performing a fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES). During the procedure, the patient began yelling and moving about very quickly. It was clear that our goal at that moment was to calm the patient down while removing the scope as quickly and as safely as possible. I began reassuring the patient that they were safe and that we were going to remove the scope. After my advisor was able to remove the scope, the patient was angry and stated that they did not feel as though this procedure was helpful or worth the pain he was experiencing. We discussed with the patient the benefits that the procedure provided while also reminding them that if they did not want to continue then we would not. The patient decided that they did not want to continue, but we referred them to a gastroenterologist for suspected esophageal dysphagia. While we were unable to complete the procedure, the patient left without feeling pressured to participate, and their feelings were validated.
Jaymie's Feedback
This sounds like it would have been a challenging situation, but you demonstrated that you could remain calm during a stressful situation. You were professional, effectively communicated by providing proper education about the pros and cons of the procedure, and ultimately respected the patient's rights and wishes. This is a great example to share that really highlights your skills and abilities.
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