Case Scenarios: Handling Challenging Communications

Purpose: To assistance you prepare for disclosure communications by using four scenarios to practice challenging interpersonal communications.

Who should employ this tool? Disclosure Lead(s).

How to use this tool: Use the scenarios in this tool to practice and improve disclosure delivery. The Disclosure Pb(s) can employ the descriptions of how they would respond to a challenging interpersonal communication to teach, simulate, and facilitate discussions among other communicators. The word should include a review of what works well in terms of responses, challenges or concerns, opportunities for improvement in actual responses, and other resources that tin can be accessed to support communications.

Beneath are 4 different challenging interpersonal communication situations. Read each description and imagine yourself really existence in the situation. After you read the clarification, write in your ain words what y'all would say in response to the situation. Do Not describe the general activeness you would have; instead, write the exact words y'all would actually communicate following the interaction.

Contents

Scenario ane: Non-Clinical State of affairs, Group Projection
Scenario two: Disclosure Immediately Later on Effect
Scenario 3: Disclosure After Event Analysis
Scenario 4: Disclosure After Event Analysis

Scenario 1: Non-Clinical Situation, Group Project

You have been asked to head a small working group inside your organization. When your grouping was assembled, you were pleased to come across that a colleague named Ron had been assigned to your group. Ron is reputed to be a very vivid and creative young man who was office of some other highly successful grouping in the organisation. However, Ron has been arriving late to group meetings and recently showed up halfway through the meeting and was conspicuously unprepared.

You overheard two members of the group discussing Ron's behavior. One grouping member, Marsha, was wondering why Ron had not been removed from the group even so; the other team member, Bill, speculated that Ron has been having some issues at home and suggested that everyone should cut him some slack.

Next week your group is expected to complete an important project then that the results can be passed forth to other members of the organization. Each team member is responsible for a different function of the project, and Ron is responsible for the two virtually of import parts. Your group is scheduled to meet tomorrow to do any last minute coordination that may be required. Based on that timetable, you gave the head of your Association your personal guarantee that the project would be done by Monday.

Ron calls you today and says he doesn't have his sections finished and probably won't exist able to terminate them earlier the meeting. He says he just needs more than fourth dimension.

What would you say to Ron? In the space below, write in your own words exactly how y'all would answer to Ron to address this situation.

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Scenario 2: Disclosure Immediately After Consequence

Mary is a 39-year-sometime mother of two small children who presented to the hospital's GI suite to undergo a procedure under moderate [procedural] sedation. Her parents, Bill and Beth, accompany her. Toward the stop of the procedure, the nurse notices that Mary has turned blue and stops the procedure. The nurse besides notices that Mary is non breathing, and her EKG shows a middle charge per unit of less than 30. The nurse calls for a lawmaking blueish response while the team involved in the procedure begins to administer CPR. When the lawmaking team arrives, there are some delays in providing advisable care while different physicians contend about the proper course of handling. Eventually the team is able to re-establish Mary's normal centre charge per unit, blood pressure, and adequate blood oxygen level.

During the resuscitation efforts, information obtained from the devices monitoring Mary's EKG, blood pressure, and blood oxygen levels reveals a menstruum of approximately 7 minutes during which she may non have been breathing adequately, possible from likewise much sedation medication during the procedure. The nurse involved in monitoring Mary appears visibly shaken and states that she was distracted during the process because she was trying to obtain different pieces of equipment for the procedure.

Bill and Beth are in the waiting room. They have heard the overhead call of code blue and have seen many people running to the procedure area.

You lot have been asked to become to the waiting room and speak with Mary'southward parents. You approach Bill and Beth in the waiting room.

In the infinite below, write in your own words exactly what you would say to Mary'southward parents.

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Scenario 3: Disclosure After Consequence Analysis

Adam, a 55 year-one-time male is admitted to your hospital for an elective removal of his spleen. The nurses, operating surgeon and anesthesiologist are all employed by the hospital, which is cocky-insured for professional liability. The process is technically challenging due to the patient's obesity but appears to go smoothly.

Adam is discharged after 3 days and has mild, persistent abdominal hurting.  The medical team attributes the pain to the surgical incision. When Adam returns for his 2-calendar week mail-operative check at the surgeon's function, he reports increasing abdominal pain and a iii-day history of a depression-form fever.

An X-ray of the abdomen reveals a surgical sponge. Adam undergoes another surgery to remove the sponge, at which time an abdominal infection is discovered. The surgery is performed past a different surgical squad at the same hospital. Treatment of the abdominal infection requires a four-day stay in the hospital followed by a 3-week grade of intravenous antibiotics at home. Adam, who is employed as an architect, misses a full of 8 weeks of work.

The root cause analysis reveals that the sponge counts took place earlier and after the surgical procedure, and correct counts were documented. The patient's physical make-up was considered to be a causative cistron.

In the infinite beneath, write in your ain words exactly what yous would say to Adam and his family.

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Scenario 4: Disclosure Subsequently Consequence Analysis

Alphonse, a l yr-old CEO of a large aerospace company with a family history of high cholesterol has come up to your hospital for cardiac bypass surgery. He has been married to Sonia for 25 years, and they accept 3 college-anile children.  The operating surgeon and anesthesiologist are both members of different multi-specialty physician groups that buy their professional person liability insurance from physician common insurance companies, and the hospital is self-insured.

The hospital has recently purchased a new piece of equipment for blood assistants during a surgical procedure. The anesthesiologist received training on the equipment and has used it in half dozen surgical cases to engagement. The equipment is being used in this surgical case. 2 units of blood accept been administered during the case using the equipment. As the anesthesiologist administers the final unit of blood, the patient suddenly experiences cardiopulmonary arrest.

The anesthesiologist suspects that Alphonse has an air embolus, and advisable resuscitative measures are undertaken. He is successfully resuscitated but experienced a prolonged menstruum of limited oxygen to the brain. Over the next few days, it is clear that he has suffered a significant brain injury due to the lack of oxygen. He is discharged to a skilled nursing facility with trivial prospects of e'er returning to work.

The root cause analysis suggests that the cause of the air embolism was multi-factorial, simply identifies a breakdown in communication between the anesthesiologist, perfusionist, and surgeon, along with a lack of familiarity with the new equipment every bit an important cause of the adverse event.

In the space below, write in your own words exactly what you would say to Alphonse'due south family.

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Page last reviewed Feb 2017

Page originally created April 2016

Internet Citation: Case Scenarios: Handling Challenging Communications. Content last reviewed February 2017. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD.
https://www.ahrq.gov/patient-safety/chapters/artlessness/modules/guide5/scenarios.html

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