Report on My Interviews

I ended up somehow conducting three interviews on Professor Rene Love, Professor Gloanna Peek, and grad student Kaylyn Grammater.

What genres did I learn about?

• Kaylyn is a brand new RN, so she was able to tell me about patient charts. Professor Love and Professor Peek both write for nursing journals, so they were able to tell me about that. The professors were also able to tell about the types of lectures and conferences they attend, as well. 

How do these genres differ from each other?

• Patient charts are the most different genre of the three. They are meant to objectively give information on the patient and the kind of care that they are receiving. Some online versions follow a certain format or genre convention, but some nurses just freely write them without a form. The charts are meant to inform other nurses and doctors about the patient, and may also be used as legal documents if a problem comes up in court. Their purpose is to inform the audience (nurses, doctors, attorneys) of the patient's stay.
• Nursing journals can vary quite a bit from each other, which is why I think I can identify some sub genres within this one. All the journal usually follow similar genre conventions; an abstract, introduction, bolded subheadings, presenting the information, and a conclusion. They are usually written by a team of authors researching together, but some people are able to publish them alone. Their purpose depends completely on the content. Some are meant to just inform, and others can help nurses adjust the way they administer care. 
• Lectures and conferences can also differ quite a bit. The author is usually just one nurse, but the content depends on the situation. The professors mentioned giving lectures about the content they've published, so that other nurses would read their work. There aren't really steady conventions for this genre. They both said that they have submitted powerpoints and slides before they give a lecture, so that the people attending have an idea of what they will speak about. As far as giving the lecture, there is plenty of creative room for the form and content to be different. The audience and message is also dependent on what kind of lecture and conference the speaker is attending (but the audience is usually other nurses).

What are the challenges?

• Kalyn mentioned that a challenge she encounters while writing patient charts is remaining objective. The patient chart may end up being used by lawyers, so it has to be as scientifically written as possible. 
• Both professors mentioned that a recurring challenge is writing as a group for nursing journals. It's hard to divide the work and make sure everyone stays on task, as well as writing in the same style throughout the entire article. 

What's rewarding?

• Patient charts are an integral part of the patient's care because it allows for all the nurses and doctors to stay on the same page. Kalyn said that being able to give the patient the best care and stay in touch with them throughout their healing process was very rewarding. 
• Both professors mentioned that they felt that writing journals and giving lectures helped better the nursing field in some way. By informing other nurses on their findings, they are allowing other nurses to continue to learn and give better care. 

Where can these genres be found?

• Patient charts are not easily found in the mass media. They're kept confidential by hospitals to ensure the patient's privacy. Mock charts can be found in nursing colleges' files as a means to teach students. 
• Nursing journals can be found simply by Googling a few key words. They can also be found easily on databases. 
• Videos and recording of lectures can be found on the websites of certain organizations who sponsored the conferences, as well as on Youtube. 

The interviews are done! On to production.