The interview was conducted in my house after my father-in-law visited. We were only two of us during the interview time. It was a tough experience, even though it was successful. I interviewed him on his sexual behavior on matters like sexual functioning, sexual history, and sexual concerns. The interview also covered his medical history, allergies, military history, immunization, tobacco use, childhood illnesses, current medication, and respondent’s perception of health. The exercise was hard since it entailed the private details that could be embarrassing to hear from him. At first, the place was filled with tension and fear. I was careful enough to avoid any misunderstanding. I kept the exercise professional which created ease and relaxation in the exercise. I remained my focus on issues concerning the subject of the interview.
Father-in-law and I have been great friends. I, therefore, thought that was an added advantage to the interview. However, it was a disadvantage. Our relationship worked against the discussion. We had been friends on social issues but limited to medical. I felt embarrassed asking the elderly on matters concerning sexual behavior since it touched on reproductive organs. Father-in-law did not even seem okay with the discussion. The talk was different from how we communicate when discussing other issues. There was a considerable feeling of tension, especially from father-in-law. Our friendship was not working well in this situation since it caused great fear.
The most challenging part of the interview was when asking the father-in-law on his sexual history and sexual concerns. It wasn’t very easy since it would expose his sexual life and even reveal his current concerns. I was also ashamed to ask some questions but gathered the courage to hide the embarrassment. Father-in-law tried to answer the questions with a lot of difficult portrayed in how he hesitated and thought before responding to the questions. He also avoided many instances of high contact when responding to sensitive subjects. I was too embarrassed to listen to him describe his sexual life, which was not a good one. The discussion was fierce, but I tried to manage it.
Regardless of the difficulties of the interview, I managed to carry out the discussion effectively. First, I was professional enough throughout the exercise. I explained to the respondent that the interview would entail sensitive questions. I assured him of the confidentiality of his information. It gave him the confidence to open up. Besides, I made the discussion flow by starting with easy and less embarrassing questions to the hard ones. I began with open questions on family history, and then after reducing the tension, the interview became personal. I made the discussion friendly and tried breaking the tension. I used diagrams that eased in explaining. I also made the interview interactive as opposed to a question-answer interview.
Numerous resources are available for patients with sexual concerns. I will recommend my father-in-law community-based platform. Since he goes to church, I will refer him to my church, where he will be guided on matters of sexuality. The church has a counseling department and also the men’s department. They both tackle this subject effectively, and thus they will be useful resources to my father-in-law.
Future nursing can be improved by employing strategies that will make nurses feel more comfortable when interviewing patients, especially family members. Nurses can as well be trained on how to behave and conduct themselves for successful interviews and treatment. The training can be specific to handling family in sensitive interviews. Besides, future nursing can be improved by training nurses to use diagrams to expound on discussions or illustrations.