Clara Spencer: Front Desk Clerk

Scenario: The day begins, and it is a daily juggling act of managing problems and making quick

decisions. Dr. Klinger has all the warmth of a refrigerator, not to mention you have been working

in this unit for the better part of five years and you are pretty sure he could not guess your name.

He asks about his patient Mrs. Harris.

What do you do?

Refer him to the patient board.

Offer to track down Mrs. Harris.

Scenario: Without Cheryl around (your old coworker), you are developing a new team over the

years. The new desk clerk, Isabel Martinez shows up so you can show her the ropes and already

she is knocking things over.

So, you say...

"Why don't you just get out of the way and just watch what I do."

"Welcome to the team."

Scenario: A patient calls the desk and it is this 3

rd

call for the day. It is because of a mix up with

dietary, Mr. Gibson was not given breakfast this morning. You have already called several times

asking for a tray, but it is taking an awfully long time. you do not blame him for being upset but

he goes too far.

What do you do?

Ask Mr. Gibson to be patient.

Apologize.

Politely end the conversation.

Scenario: Isabel noticed that the day has been very hectic. She explains to you that at her old job,

things did not get as crazy as it did here. She asks you if people get out of control with all the

stress.

What do you say?

"You put them in their place if you have to."

"You try putting yourself in their shoes."

Scenario: A nurse tells you she is expecting a call from her boyfriend and wants you to get her

when he does. Sometimes people do not understand what your job is and is not. A doctor needs

an order and you tell her you will write the orders in a minute no problem. In a perfect world,

doctors would give you only written orders but what can you do. Your husband calls and you are

happy to hear his voice but as always when you are at work it is not very good timing. He is

worried his mom is not feeling well and wants to take her to the hospital. Yu still have not

finished putting in the EKG order from Mrs. Smith, but Mrs. Wu wants to see her husband and is

getting impatient. She has been told to wait 5 minutes 20 minutes ago.

So, you say...

"She knows your waiting."

"Let me find out what's taking so long."

Scenario: The doctor comes back looking for the order on the EKG. That's when it hits you, you

do remember Dr. Mallavoy giving the order but she never wrote it down as she was supposed to

then with all that happened this morning you completely forgot about it.

What do you do?

Remind Dr. Mallavoy she did not write down the order.

Take responsibility for your mistake.

Scenario: No matter how hard you try; it feels like it is impossible to do everything right.

Sometimes it makes you want to scream. Of course, at that moment Isabel gets back from lunch;

the last thing you want to do right now is make conversation. Technically you are not supposed

to break for lunch for another hour.

What do you do?

Ask your supervisor for an early break.

Keep working.

Michael Kyung: Environmental Services

Scenario: You get to your assignment and the clerk tells you that the unit is getting 3 new

admissions but as soon as you steer your cart into one of the rooms, a nurse stops you and not

pleasantly. She asks you to get a room for her immediately. Charlie, a supervisor, happens to

walk by and asks if everything is under control.

And you say...

"Yes, everything's fine."

"No, I could use some help."

Scenario: The rooms for new admissions took you over an hour and a half and now you are back

to your original assignment, though the patient doesn't seem responsive; he barely looks at you

when you walk in.

What do you do?

Introduce yourself.

Start cleaning.

Scenario: The patient screams at you to throw away the dead flowers because it smells off the

place. You don't appreciate his tone, but you also know better than to take it personally. His

daughter comes in very upset telling you there was no toilet paper in the bathroom yesterday and

she had to buy it herself and that the bathroom was a mess. People often associate the cleanliness

of a hospital with the quality of its medical care. They wonder if you cannot keep the place clean

how are you going to help him get well. The woman is clearly upset, but you were not anywhere

near this unit yesterday.

You point out that...

You weren't the one cleaning yesterday.

You'll make sure the bathroom is fully stocked.

Scenario: You go and work on the next patient's room. You are feeling a little defeated right

now. If he is anything like the last patient, you would rather keep the conversation short.

So, you...

Talk to the patient.

Start cleaning right away.

Scenario: You are finally on your break and you see Emilio. Although you do not know him well

Emilio seems like a nice guy. He walks over to your table, leaving his trash behind. This is

something that's always bothered you, how hard is it to dump your own trash?

So, you decide to...

Pretend the trash does not bother you.

Say something about the trash.

Scenario: After lunch, you rotate down to the main lobby. You have finally been assigned to

clean one of the high profile areas, however, you are not sure if you should clean right in front of

the desk and you wonder if you should ask the clerk she seems really busy though.

What do you do?

Just go ahead and clean the area.

Get her attention.

Scenario: It is getting closer to the end of your shift. A woman stops you and explains that her

husband cannot get into a room until the room is cleaned. You have 15 minutes left and it would

take a while to send someone to help, she has been waiting for half an hour and you can tell this

woman is upset.

What do you do?

Apologize for the delay and reassure her that someone will be there to help her soon.

Clean it yourself.

Questions for Anatomy of Care:

Now that you have answered the questions from the perspective of the Front Desk Clerk, and Environmental Services, answer the following questions from the Vice President in charge of Administration, responsible for the floors and staff viewed in the vinaigrettes:

1. What went wrong?
2. From an administrative perspective, what should be done (specifically, what programs, interventions, training, policies, procedures, etc.)?
3. What would you do to determine success of the interventions

REMEMBER YOU ARE ANSWERING THESE QUESTIONS AS IF YOU WERE THE VICE PRESIDENT IN CHARGE OF ADMINISTRATION.