Question

You are working as an administrative assistant in a busy GP practice in a suburb where the community consists of people newly arrived in Australia and a younger cohort of individuals who have moved to the area and are heroin addicts. The GP clinic is the only clinic in the area that provides a bulk billing service and needle exchange program.

Mrs. Rizzo is an elderly lady of 78 years, from Italy. Mrs. Rizzo was brought to Australia by her son and daughter in law after her husband died. Mrs. Rizzo does not speak any English but relies on her son to interpret for her. Mrs. Rizzo has been in Australia for over 10 years but has made no effort to learn English and except for when her son accompanies her rarely leaves the house.

On arrival at the surgery it was apparent that Mrs. Rizzo was in pain. There was a lot of yelling, gesturing, pulling of hair and crying. Another patient attending the clinic tells her to shut up™ and asks if you could put the old bag outside™. Her son became very upset and soon both the son and the other client were yelling at each other. Mrs. Rizzo continued to wail.

You need to deal with this situation but privately you felt that Mrs. Rizzo was making a lot of fuss.

Questions

1.7)   What verbal and nonverbal communication could you use in this situation?

1.8)   Reflection on own social and cultural perspectives and biases for the situation in the scenario.

1.9)   Identify a strategy that you can do to improve own self and social awareness

1.10)   Explain how your response contributes to the development of work place and professional relationships based on appreciation of diversity and inclusiveness to make the workplace safe for all.

Answer 1

verbal communication:

• i will ask about her pain, its quality, type, severity and frequency
• i will be non judgemental while talking with the client
• i will accept the client with her needs and problems
• i will avoid any unnecessary jargon while using language
• i will address the immediate needs of the patient

non verbal communication:

• i will maintain silence while the client is talking
• i will use skills of active listening
• i will maintain open posture
• i will maintain eye to eye contact
• i will show empathy while talking with the client

reflection on own situations and biases over the situation:

while reflecting upon my own  social and cultural perspectives, it is required for the client and the family members to maintain etiquettes of the hospital or gp clinic and not supposed to create a fuss between each other, rather they should express their concerns to the health care professionals.

strategy to improve one's own self and social awareness:

• be emapthetic to the client's pain and other needs
• be loyal and genuine to the client
• listen while the client is expressing her issues
• have control over one's own emotions
• maintain rapport with the client by trust building

response for work place development and professional relationships:

• able to accept each other's diversity and cultural differences
• maintain a work environment that will be non judgemental and free from bullying
• use paraphrasing and reflection while communicate inorder to avoid misinterpretations
• encourage and motivate each other to improve professionalism and work place ethics