Interview with APRN

Abstract

This paper discusses an introduction with an APRN at a health care organization under the Mercy Health umbrella. It begins by identifying the mission, vision and values of the organization and extrapolating its goals from them. It then describes the interviewee approached for this project. It lists the ten interview questions used to guide the interview, which was conducted over Zoom and lasted approximately 30 minutes. The interview showed the primary concern of the advanced practice nurse stemmed from her experience in dealing with Covid protocols. She discussed how many nurses, including herself, felt these protocols went against what they learned and were expected to show regarding patient autonomy and human dignity. She felt discouraged at the way her organizations leaders were handling the response to Covid. She lamented that the professional climate had become so toxic that many professionals were considering quitting, which would only further hurt the field. In her view, the leaders in the industry were fanning the flames of division rather than uniting everyone under a human approach to care in accordance with the organizations core values and vision. By the end of the interview, she discussed that the industry was changing in big ways and it concerned her, as she was thinking of exploring closer relationships with natural health practitioners in the future. This interview has revealed deep fissures in the practice of health care and should be viewed as a warning of what might be in store for the field.

Keywords: health care interview, advanced practice, covid

Introduction

The mission of Mercy Health is to extend the compassionate ministry of Jesus by improving the health and well-being of our communities and bring good help to those in need, especially people who are poor, dying and underserved (Mercy Health, 2021a). Its vision is to be a ministry where associates want to work, clinicians want to practice, people seek wellness and communities thrive (Mercy Health, 2021a). Its goals are based on its values, which include commitments to human dignity, integrity, compassion, stewardship, and service: it aims to provide competent care to patients of the community, employ the principles of the health organization in the provision of care, and to apply appropriate health knowledge in the delivery of care (Mercy Health, 2021b). The APRN interviewed for this paper was a partner within the Mercy Health system, operating in primary medicine/family care. Her goal as stated was in line with the overall goal of Mercy Health: to provide Christ-centered health care that respects the human dignity of the person. Upon interviewing her, however, it became clear that in the wake of Covid restrictions and regulations, it had become more difficult for her and others in her profession to achieve these goals due to seemingly harsh protocols that, rather than give more choice to patients, restricted their choice and sometimes opposed their sense of having autonomy.

Interview

The interview was conducted using Zoom and lasted approximately 30 minutes. The interview questions were pre-written. The questions were:

Questions

1. What are your professional expectations as an Advanced Practice nurse with Mercy?

2. What is your view of Mercys health policy and could it be improved?

3. What is your opinion of health reimbursement arrangements?

4. Historically speaking, how has the professional role of the nurse changed in your view?

5. Are the ethical frameworks employed in health care today adequate to ensure proper quality of care?

6. What has been your reaction to leadership in health care in response to Covid?

7. How do you ensure that human dignity is upheld in your practice?

8. Do you believe EBP is being used in the Covid...

…noted that she tried to respect human dignity as best she could in such a situation but that it was becoming harder and harder to do because the system itself was stepping away from treating people with respect and appreciation for their autonomy. She feared what was happening in the health care industry. She also noted that she would like to see more EBP in placeand she stressed the phrase actual EBPin response to Covid. She stated that everything she had seen up till now was based on fear mongering and nothing more. She said that the major challenge in health care in the coming years would be restoring the peoples trust in the institution of health care. She said more and more people were viewing health care as corrupt, as commoditized, and as in the pocket of Big Pharma; she said she felt this way just from conversations she had with people every day. This led to the final question of interprofessional collaboration: she said that ultimately she would like to collaborate with holistic doctors, homeopathic doctors, and natural medicine practitioners. She said her perspective on health and healing was changing dramatically the more she looked into the work of doctors like Tom Cowan and Stefan Lanka. She said she would like to see inerprofessional collaboration in that direction, but she doubted very much that Mercy would support such a direction.

Conclusion

Based on the interview, it appears that much has changed in the health care field since 2020, and it has affected the interviewee especially dramatically. Her view of nursing is now more in line with the holistic approach, and she discussed the person-centered theory of care briefly and argued that this approach was being lost in the face of Covid regulations. Her main concern was that her health care organization…