The interactional interview here considered was given on an elective orthopaedics ward at Oldchurch Hospital, where I was working during April - June 1997. The purpose of the interview was for a client assessment in order to confirm basic information for registering of the patient's details correctly upon admission to the hospital ward on the morning prior to undergoing surgery. For reasons of confidentiality the pseudonyms "Anne" and "José" are here applied for the nurse and patient respectively. Although Anne had prior access to the Orthopaedic Pre-admission Assessment plus other written notes concerning José , this was their first person to person meeting. The interview took place adjacent to the nurses' station near the ward entrance one monday at about 9am, and permission of interviewer and interviewee was obtained to observe and record details. Anne is a skilled qualified English nurse who has many years of work experience in the N.H.S ; and José is a man of 32 years age, - apparently from the local borough's indigenous 'middle' or 'working class' white population, - who has been referred for pre and post-operative care on the ward in consequence of suffering from loose bodies in a knee joint, which called for arthroscopy.

An interview is "a directed conversation with a person that is designed to elicit certain predetermined kinds of information for the purposes of research or to aid in guidance, diagnosis or treatment." ( English & English, 1958, p97) . The personal interview may be the best technique for obtaining information that is not superficial, and is often used in nursing because nurse interviewers frequently need to obtain highly personal information in order to be able to effect professional nursing care appropriate to client needs. Not only past history and current physical condition, but also feelings, attitudes and emotions need to be considered; and the interviewer therefore seeks to provide a framework for obtaining needed information through a format which allows for the retaining of a respect for privacy and dignity of the interviewee. General goals of the nurse interviewer could be classified as (1) Procurement of information (2) Provision of information (3) Therapeutic , and (4) Persuasion to a particular course of action.

Upon stepping through the entrance door of this ward - José identified himself to Anne, who in turn briefly introduced herself and the ward to José. She pointed out which bed was to be his for the time being. Thus José was free to set down his belongings and rest a few minutes before the interview in detail was worked through. Because of there being so many patient admissions to record , the admission interview was conducted by the nurses' station where answers to questions can be typed directly into a desk-top computer database and so used to help create a personal care plan ( Roper, Logan & Tierney, 1996 , p33 ) which is printed out on a laser printer immediately adjacent.

Anne established the rapport with José in the introductory phase, inviting José to be seated on a chair next to hers as she opened the session. The interview is an interactional process where both interviewer and interviewee serve as partners, and to establish and maintain the cooperative relationship is essential to achieving the interviewer's purpose. One of the best ways to put a person at ease is to ask him / her to take a seat, as irritation and fatigue are less likely to be provoked when sitting. José was given the best padded swivel chair to sit on, while Anne took a lower and plainer chair, thus emphasising that the patient was of prime importance - and the nurse could be viewed in a subsidiary serving rôle. During this introduction Anne conveyed succinctly to José the reason for the interview and what procedure would follow. Understanding of the purpose of the interview and establishing trust in the interviewer are vital if good motivation is to be established for the duration. Even though a medicosocial interview impinges somewhat on the client's private life - the interviewee accepts such infringement when believing it to be to his advantage to do so ; but respect by the nurse for the psychosocial implications to the client of information given is very important.