Question

Step 4: How should this case be resolved? What resolution(s) do you suggest, and why?

Fact Pattern For Case Study

Dr. Jones is an orthopedic surgeon at ABC Health Medical Center, a large teaching hospital. Dr. Jones has worked with interns and residents for thirty (30) years. On a typical day, Dr. Jones does rounds with the interns, consults on ten (10) to twenty (20) cases and performs three (3) surgeries. Prior to seeing Dr. Jones, all patients are interviewed by a nurse and examined by an intern. The nurses and interns then provide Dr. Jones with the highlights of each upcoming case as they walk from patient room to patient room, up and down a long hallway. Dr. Jones also discusses his cases with other physicians in the elevators, stairwells and cafeteria.

Due to a genetic defect, Dr. Jones suffers from severe hearing loss. While he has custom-made hearing aids that help greatly with this impairment, he often forgets to wear them. He also finds them to be very uncomfortable. According to the charge nurse, Dr. Jones is “quite difficult” to deal with without his hearing aids. He cannot follow multi-party conversations very well. He becomes impatient. He raises her voice to the extent that it can be heard throughout the floor. Although Dr. Jones is well versed in sign language—and the hospital provides him with a full-time, on-call interpreter—he refuses the assistance.

Dr. Jones is a phenomenal surgeon. His colleagues hold him in high esteem. He travels the world, lecturing on the newest surgical techniques. Interns fight for the opportunity to scrub in on his surgeries. He does cutting-edge research. Nonetheless, the hospital board of directors has concerns about his continued employment. When asked to limit his repetition of patient information in public places. Dr. Jones replied, “Every other doctor in this hospital talks about patients in the halls and cafeteria. It’s the most efficient and practical use of our time.” When told of patient complaints about his “bedside manner”— that he seems to ignore their stories, fails to answer their questions and spends little time talking with them at all—Dr. Jones scoffed. “My role is to identify and fix physical manifestations of disease, not to be friends with the patients. Do you want me to be a friend or a surgeon?”

Answer 1

Doctors who are friendly with the patients help them with their speedy recovery because every physical illness is associated with the emotions, mental health and psychological wellbeing. For Dr. Jones, the problem is different, it’s his inability to hear properly. He has been a successful surgeon for more than thirty years which not only shows his skills but also his seriousness in treating the patients well. As he aged, he was losing his hearing thus it makes it difficult for him to interact with people effectively. Although he uses the question as a defence mechanism to hide his inability to hear, in reality he would love to do so. As people age they won’t be able to spend more time talking and walking or even listening. Thus, he needs to be on his own as a surgeon if we are answering his question. He has lived his life serving people and his request has to be respected and there are plenty of other people who are young and they can interact with the patients. Another solution is that someone keeps his hearing aid ready in order to be heard loud and clear.