CASPer Scenario For Discussion #39

[PrepMatch]

You volunteer at the hospital as a porter. Your role involves taking patients to and from their rooms. A nurse calls you and asks you to bring a wheelchair to a patient's room and take him to his appointment in another part of the hospital. When you arrive, the patient stays cursing at you and making a lot of disrespectful comments about your looks.​

1. Should you still proceed with your task?
2. Should the hospital ask the patient to leave if they are showing disrespect towards the hospital's workers/volunteers?
3. Talk about a time when you felt disrespected.

Discuss Below !!

This scenario is from PrepMatch.com, the free peer-to-peer CASPer preparation platform that allows you to practice hundreds of scenarios for free. PrepMatch is a non-profit partnered up with organizations such as the Student Doctor Network that aims to make the admission process more equitable.

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[Hahn-IngoldFOLD]

This is what I came up with in 5 minutes! Let me know if y'all have any feedback.

1) Of course. However, I would assess mental state to determine if this was something I could handle by myself or have to ask for help for. Then, I would ask why the patient is cursing and why they feel the need to make certain remarks. I would also ask them what's going on. Typically people only behave this way when one of their needs is not getting met. I would try to find common ground with the patient to see if there was any room for compromise or discussion.

2) I don't think the hospital should ask the patient to leave strictly on the basis that they are making disparaging remarks. However, the should make it clear that they do not tolerate this kind of behavior. If the behavior continues there will be consequences that may lead to them being removed from the hospital. In addition, I would assign a social worker to the person's case to see if there is anything that is going on in the background that would catalyze this behavior.

3) I was teaching a group of students how to perform a rodent survival surgery. One student was not doing as well as the others. I said, "Don't worry it will get better with time" Another student had a snarky remark to me, "When will you get better?" I felt incredibly disrespected in front of the group - other students laughed and I began questioning my own capability. I did not validate the remark with a response - as nothing seemed appropriate at the time.

 

[mike-sheree]

#2. You are a hospital porter. YOU would assign a social worker to the patient’s case?!
How about raising those concerns with the appropriate staff?

 

[fluffycookie1231]

1. I think one should not proceed with the task at hand. I understand a lot of medical conditions and pain cause cause many to feel irritated and as a result, lash out as such even to medical professionals trying to help. On the other hand, if I begin to feel unsafe about what is being said, it is important to trust my gut and not further agitate the patient by interacting with them. Therefore, I believe it is important to step away from the situation to either let the patient calm down, to reassess the situation, or inform the nurse on what is occurring to get better information on how to handle the situation

2. I understand that the patient is being disrespectful and often times in stores this would make many establishments ask someone to leave. However, in a hospital, it is important to understand, again, that this patient may be in pain or may have a medical condition or is in distress causing him to lash out this way to me when they normally would not. Therefore, as a hospital, it is important to understand why this patient may be doing this and help the patient out. Moreover, this patient came into the hospital to obviously gain medical help. Therefore, it is important to be empathetic in this situation and to assist the patient as best as possible while looking beyond the disrespectful comments.

3.I once felt disrespected by a patient before. I was doing clinicals in my CNA class at a retirement home. A patient i was helping called me a ‘oriental’ which is a derogatory temr for those of asian descent. Although it was offensive, I also put it in perspective that this patient both grew up in a time where that terminology was acceptable. It is important to sometimes look beyond the action, although difficult, and understand the whole story and background of such.

(please ignore the mistakes. I typed it fast and I know minor typing mistakes are overlooked on the CASPER)

 

[Hahn-IngoldFOLD]

#2. You are a hospital porter. YOU would assign a social worker to the patient’s case?!
How about raising those concerns with the appropriate staff?

lol I was going fast - just realized the mistake in my role. good catch.

 

[Fluidity of Movement]

1. Absolutely. Unless my presence was causing the patient to become more severely ill, or if they were becoming violent. I would be less concerned of myself and more on trying to understand what they are going through. It's not fun being in the hospital and I'd assume their remarks were related to their situation, of which I know nothing about. My goal would be to safely transport them and try to make them feel more comfortable if able. I understand that they would probably act the same towards any person and that it wasn't likely specifically pointed at me, so I wouldn't try to give the patient to someone else.

2. No. This isn't a restaurant, people are entitled to medical care. Unless they are physically interfering with others' work or causing a safety concern, our obligation is to see the person's health improve.

3. I was working at a pizza shop one night and handing out orders to folk. It was very busy and I had accidentally left my glasses at home. There was a line of frustrated people, and when one order came up I handed it to the wrong person. The correct person was standing nearby and became enraged that I had confused the two. He made a racist remark and called me a slur. All I could think to do at the time was apologize and keep moving on trying to work as best as I could.




Also, today is the first day i've ever heard of about CASPer, (I've been out of the game for 6 years), all I can say is HURRAY, yet another hoop for us to jump through 🙃