| Course | NSG 521 Fundamental Concepts and Health Assessment |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 1 |
| Paper type | Interview technique log |
| Length | About 500 words, 4 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Herzing University |
| Program | MSN |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for NSG 521 Unit 1
Interview Technique Log: A Health History With a 64-Year-Old Man Admitted With Pneumonia, Questions Prepared Versus Questions Asked
Student Name
Department of Nursing, Herzing University
NSG 521: Fundamental Concepts and Health Assessment
Instructor Name
January 22, 2026
Interview Technique Log: A Health History With a 64-Year-Old Man Admitted With Pneumonia, Questions Prepared Versus Questions Asked
Setting
Mr. Walker is a composite 64-year-old retired bus mechanic admitted the previous evening to a medical-surgical unit with community-acquired pneumonia. He was on 2 liters of oxygen by nasal cannula, sitting up in bed, and had agreed to a 20-minute health history interview with a nursing student. His wife was present for part of it. The log below sets the questions prepared the night before beside those actually asked, in order, with a note after each exchange on why the plan changed and what the change produced. The structure of the history follows a standard health assessment text (Jarvis, 2020).
The Log
Prepared questions are on the left; what was actually asked, in sequence, is on the right.
| Prepared | Actually asked | Why it changed, and what happened |
|---|---|---|
| "What brought you to the hospital?" | "What's been going on that brought you in?" | Kept almost as written. He talked for about 90 seconds without interruption about a week of cough and fever. Letting him finish his opening account brought out a detail not on the admission note: he had been coughing up rust-colored sputum. |
| "When did your symptoms start?" | "You said it started with a cold. What day was that?" | Rephrased to build on his own words. He dated it to eight days earlier, which is longer than the admission note's three days. |
| "Do you have chest pain?" | "Tell me about any pain you've had." | Changed from a closed to an open question. He described a sharp pain on the right side with each deep breath, which a yes or no question would not have characterized. |
| "Rate your pain from 0 to 10." | Same | He said 6, and 8 when coughing. |
| "Do you smoke?" | "Have you ever smoked or used tobacco in any form?" | Widened after his wife glanced at him. He had quit cigarettes 12 years ago after 30 years at a pack a day, but still smokes cigars on weekends, which he had not counted as smoking. |
| "What medications do you take?" | "Can you walk me through everything you take in a day, including things from the store?" | Broadened. He listed lisinopril and atorvastatin, then added that he had been taking an over-the-counter cold medicine and ibuprofen four times a day for a week. |
| "Any allergies?" | "Has any medicine ever given you a reaction? What happened?" | Asked for the reaction, not only the drug. His 'penicillin allergy' was a rash as a child, never retested, which is useful for the prescriber. |
| "Do you drink alcohol?" | "How many drinks of beer, wine, or liquor do you have in a typical week?" | Asked for a number rather than yes or no. He estimated 10 to 12 beers a week. |
| Not prepared | "Is there anything I haven't asked about that you think I should know?" | Added at the end. He said he had been more short of breath climbing stairs for about three months before this illness, which he had not mentioned because "that's just getting older." |
What the Changes Show
Most changes moved from closed questions, which invite yes or no, to open ones, which invite description. Open questions produced three pieces of information the closed versions would likely have missed: the character of the chest pain, the cigar use, and the daily ibuprofen. Letting him complete his opening account also mattered. In a well-known study of primary care visits, physicians redirected patients' opening statements after an average of about 23 seconds, and patients completed their initial statement of concerns in a minority of visits (Marvel et al., 1999). Allowing Mr. Walker 90 seconds cost little and produced the detail about rust-colored sputum.
One Question That Went Badly
When asking about alcohol, the first attempt was "You don't drink much, do you?" before correcting to the question in the table. That first phrasing was a leading question that invited the answer "no," and he began to agree before the question was rephrased. The correction worked, but the slip is recorded because leading questions are an easy habit, especially on sensitive topics, and they reduce accuracy precisely where it matters.
Findings to Pass On
Four findings from the interview were reported to the primary nurse and documented: symptoms began eight days ago rather than three; he has been taking ibuprofen four times a day, relevant to his kidneys and to his lisinopril; his penicillin allergy history is a childhood rash, which may allow a broader antibiotic choice after evaluation; and he had three months of exertional breathlessness before this illness, which may need evaluation for an underlying heart or lung condition once the pneumonia resolves. His cigar use and alcohol intake were also recorded for the discharge plan.
What I Will Do Differently
Prepare open questions rather than closed ones for the first pass through each topic, and save closed questions for clarifying details. Ask for numbers when quantity matters. Ask about reactions, not only about allergies. End every history with an invitation to add anything missed, since the most important finding in this interview came from that question. These techniques are consistent with standard guidance on history taking, which recommends moving from open-ended to focused questions (Bickley et al., 2021).
References
Bickley, L. S., Szilagyi, P. G., Hoffman, R. M., & Soriano, R. P. (2021). Bates' guide to physical examination and history taking (13th ed.). Wolters Kluwer.
Jarvis, C. (2020). Physical examination & health assessment (8th ed.). Elsevier.
Marvel, M. K., Epstein, R. M., Flowers, K., & Beckman, H. B. (1999). Soliciting the patient's agenda: Have we improved? JAMA, 281(3), 283-287. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.281.3.283
What the NSG 521 Unit 1 instructions ask for
Unit 1 asks you to log a health history interview, comparing what you planned to ask with what you actually asked. Expect to describe the setting, set prepared and asked questions side by side, explain the changes, examine one question that went badly, list findings passed on and reflect on next steps. Common questions concern how many questions to log and whether mistakes belong in it. Mistakes are the most useful part, so include at least one. Fifteen to twenty question pairs give a fair picture. Note whether each question was open or closed. Leading questions, such as you don't smoke, do you, often slip in and deserve analysis. Findings passed on show the interview had clinical purpose.
How the NSG 521 Unit 1 example is put together
The log opens with the setting, the patient and who else was present. A two-column table pairs prepared questions with those asked. The changes section counts how many moved from closed to open and why. The section on the question that went badly quotes the leading question, explains what it did to the answer and shows the recovery with an open question. The findings section lists what was reported and documented. The final section names three changes for next time, such as preparing open questions for the first pass through each topic. The log is honest and specific, and every claim about technique points to a numbered question.
Reading the NSG 521 Unit 1 rubric
Herzing's rubric for an interview technique log usually covers the setting, the paired questions, analysis of changes, examination of a mistake, findings passed on and reflection. The examination of a question that went badly draws close reading, since recognizing a leading question is a key interviewing skill. Setting points reward patient context and who was present. Pair criteria look for prepared and asked questions recorded in order. Analysis earns credit when changes are classified as open, closed or leading. Findings points go to clinically useful information reported. Reflection should name specific changes. A validated screen such as CAGE for alcohol is often credited. Bickley's Bates' Guide supports the techniques.
NSG 521 Unit 1 help before you submit
Interview logs in Unit 1 often slip by recording only the questions that went well. Another frequent problem is not classifying questions as open, closed or leading. Students often skip findings passed on, so the interview seems to have no clinical purpose. Reflection is general, such as I will be more open. Leading questions are not recognized. The setting is missing, so the reader cannot judge interruptions or family presence. Validated screening tools are not used for alcohol or mood. Questions are paraphrased rather than quoted. Finally, examine one question that went badly, because graders reward a log that shows the student catching and correcting a real interviewing error.
Get a NSG 521 Unit 1 example written to your instructions
Send the Unit 1 instructions and the rubric from your NSG 521 classroom, plus any interview guide the course hands out. We write a custom example that prints the prepared questions unchanged, sets the asked sequence beside them, attaches a note to every fork and names two habits before it ends. First custom sample free, back in 24 to 48 hours.
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NSG 521 Unit 1 questions, answered
Can the log come from a real patient interview?
No. What a person says inside a supervised encounter stays with that encounter and with them, and it does not travel into coursework. Compose the conversation instead, mark it at the top as constructed and carrying no real identifiers, then build in the forks the log needs rather than whichever ones a real hour produced.
How long should the recorded conversation run?
Long enough to hold two or three genuine departures, which usually means a segment rather than a full history. Where your instructions set a length, meet it by widening the notes rather than by adding exchanges, since a log carrying forty questions and thin reasoning reads as volume standing in for technique. Depth in the notes is what the unit is looking at.
Does the log need clinical terminology?
Use the terms the course has introduced and no more. A first unit is generally checking whether the learner heard an answer and moved, not whether the vocabulary is advanced, and terms borrowed from later courses tend to be used loosely enough that a reader notices. Plain description of what was asked and why carries the credit here.
Where can I find a free NSG 521 Unit 1 sample paper?
The full NSG 521 Unit 1 interview technique log is free on this page, prepared and asked questions side by side with one leading question examined. A log of your own interview can be prepared on request.
What is a leading question in a health history?
A question that suggests the answer, such as you don't drink much, do you, which makes it harder to give an honest reply. This sample shows how one leading question was recovered with an open question and a validated screen.