Reply To: Discussion: Unit 9-Closing Procedures in a Pediatric Healthcare Setting

[Iveth]

BreAna’s Group : Brenda N, Jason M, Dayanara B. Kimberly B, Kaelynn H. Iveth D

Discussion Points :

1. Introduction (10 minutes):

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• Hello I am —- and I will be your medical assistant today.

• I will take your vitals and get the physician in as soon as possible

• As a medical assistant my responsibility lies with being the first face the patient sees at the reception area. Doing the vitals and inputting the medical history into the ehr. Inputting complaints and anything relevant that the patient tells me.

2. Identifying Urgent Cases (15 minutes):

– Discuss how your clinic defines and prioritizes urgent cases, especially near closing time.

– Brainstorm strategies for managing urgent cases while ensuring patient safety and adhering to closing procedures.

When there are any urgent cases, especially near closing time all the workers in the clinic should provide attention to the patient. It is important to care for the patient and even if it’s near closing time, this is why we should be prepared for any of these cases. The first thing to do is provide the basic care for the patient for example, basic first aid, providing oxygen, or stabilizing the persons conditions while waiting for any further instructions. We should also never express any negative emotions when your shift doesn’t go as planned, this can make the patient feel uncomfortable and scared especially since they’re a child.

3. Communicating with Patients (15 minutes):

– Consider how you would effectively communicate with the child’s parent about the situation and potential wait times.

• Greet and introduce myself to the child’s parent

• Acknowledge the parent’s concern and provide reassurance/comfort

• Explain to the parent about the clinic closing time

• Describe the next steps that will be taken for the child’s care and what to expect next

• Provide child’s parent with any additional information

• – Discuss methods for conveying empathy and maintaining clear communication during stressful situations.

• Use a calm/friendly and reassuring tone

• provide updates

• Maintain eye contact and be an active listener

• Acknowledge the parents anxiety

4. Staff Coordination (15 minutes):

– Outline how you would coordinate with other staff members, including receptionists, nurses, and physicians, to manage the urgent case effectively.

• We would need to coordinate with each other to see how serious of a problem it is. We don’t necessarily need a lot of people to stay in the clinic. We need to make sure that there is at least one MA that can take the child’s vitals and to just make things run smoothly we could use another MA to talk to the parent. That MA would need to talk to the parent about the concerns they are having while at the same time make sure that they are trying to calm down the parent. If there is anything that is needed afterwards that MA would also talk to the parent about the following steps. Of course we would need a physician to stay to do the primary check on the child. So we would need a receptionist, around one or two MA’s , the physician, and possibly a nurse. We would need to make sure that everyone is ready to do their part so that it can run smoothly.

– Discuss the importance of shift handover and ensuring continuity of care for the child.

• The importance of shift handover is that it ensures the best care for the child. There are two aspects. First is that if it had been a long shift for the patient’s bst care you would need to switch so that the Ma’s mind is fresh and not tired. The other aspect would be that you need to make sure that you are there for your shift to make sure that no one has to stay longer hours or find a replacement. If that is the case someone might not be able to do either and there will be a gap in the system that you have set up which will cause things to run slower because now someone is responsible for your part.

5. Ethical Considerations (15 minutes):

– Explore ethical considerations in managing urgent cases near closing time, such as balancing patient needs with operational constraints.

Some ethical considerations that would be acknowledged would be wanting to provide care but also finishing the procedures of closing the clinic. Deciding to see the patient can reset the entire process as well as putting their health at risk because there might not be a ready space available so close to closing time.Especially when dealing with urgent cases

– Discuss any ethical dilemmas that may arise and how you would approach them.

Some ethical dilemmas would be choosing whether or not to see the patient being that close to closing, another issue that could happen is when assessing the patient the proper people that would need to care for them might have left already. The procedures of closing the clinic might make it harder to collect any needed items and having a room set for the patient.

The way i would approach on whether or not the patient can be seen is thinking about the area around the clinic and if there are any other places still open the can see them, but i would greet them and find out their reasoning for coming so late and once finding out the case is urgent i would inform all the necessary staff about it and get them checked in. In the scenario it’s known that there isn’t enough staff present to help, you could possibly help the patient contact another clinic and inform them of sending the patient their way. If there is staff with the right experience to provide care and get them in we could try and find a room that had already been cleaned and ready for use, and just try to provide the physician with whatever they may need.

6. Documentation and Compliance (10 minutes):

• Review the importance of documentation and regulatory compliance during closing procedures

It ensures patient safety and smooth clinic operations.

• Discuss what specific documentation would be necessary in this scenario and how it should be handled.

In this scenario, immediately document the child’s basic information and their symptoms. Check how serious the situation is and ask a doctor for help if needed. Keep the parent updated on what’s going on.

7. Conclusion and Debrief (10 minutes):

– Summarize key points discussed during the session.

– Reflect on what you have learned about managing urgent cases and closing procedures in pediatric healthcare settings.

– Discuss any improvements or changes you would propose to enhance clinic operations based on this scenario.The key points discussed during the session were the introduction,Identifying Urgent Cases, Communicating With Patients, Staff Coordination,Ethical consideration,Documentation and Compliance .The introduction is important as a Medical Assistant because it is the first thing a patient sees and talks with since it is in the reception area. The introduction to a patient is what makes a patient feel comfortable or uncomfortable, we as a medical assistant should always have good energy so that we can leave the patient with a good feeling. This shows to the patients that they are in good hands. Identifying Urgent Cases is important for a Medical Assistant because we should know if a patient is in danger and needs immediate help, this can also help in cases when there are too many people and we have to attend to the people who are in danger and then go to the non-urgent cases. Communicating with patients is a really important part in the medical field and as a Medical Assistant we should be able to communicate efficiently with the patient. Communication with the patient is needed when patients share their complaints and when the Medical Assistant has to deliver approved news about their health and any other important information. Staff Coordination is really important in a healthcare setting so that everyone is organized and knows their task, this helps things go smoother and leaves patients with a good impression seeing how well each member works with each other. This can also help the members because they won’t have any problems with each other when working together. Ethical Consideration is an important thing to have in the medical field because it is what helps you decide whether you attend a patient and obviously the ethical thing to do is to care for the patient. Documentation is important because it is what helps keep records of a patient’s medical history and it is a legal document. Documentation is also helpful for when the clinic has an audit and they need to prove something. It also secures the information given especially during closing time.