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

[Elizabeth]

1. Introduction (10 minutes):

– Introduce yourselves and briefly discuss your roles within the clinic.

– Read and familiarize yourselves with the scenario provided.

Hello, my name is Elizabeth Diaz, and I am going to be your Medical Assistant for this afternoon. I can see that your child has been injured and I will do my best to give them the absolute best care that I can offer. However, I should inform you that the clinic will be closing soon so I will do my best to support in the best way that I can. As a medical assistant my first priority is making sure that the patient is safe and healthy.

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.

– The clinic and all of its staff should be treating the patient like normal even if it is nearing the closing time. It is important for every patient to get the same treatmnt. Especially if it’s nearing closing time, the patient still deserves to get the same treatments in the wating room, triage, exam room, and when they are checking out. Every member of the team should be equipped and ready for a patient since it still isn’t time for the clinic to close. As a medical assistant it’s my job to listen to my patient and understand what their chief complaint is in order for the doctor to make a well-informed decision about the urgent matter.

-When an urgent case walks into the clinic, every staff member must be ready to take them on and remain respectful and ensure the patient’s safety. We must give the best care we can, but it also must be done efficiently in order to adhere to closing procedures. After the patient leaves one room, i.e.: the triage, a staff member must be ready to clean and sanitize the area. This should go on until the patient has been seen by the doctor and their is medication put into place and a diagnosis with information given to the parents of the patient.

3. Communicating with Patients (15 minutes

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

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

During this stressful situation it is important for the parents to understand what is going on with their child’s condition. As the MA I should introduce myself directly to the parents in a calm and empathetic manner. I should talk to the parents about the condition that the child is in, so that I can get as much information as possible for the doctor. I would then reiterate that the clinic is close to closing but that every staff member will try their best in order to give the best care that our clinic can give. Throughout their visit, I will also need to give them any addition information about any diagnosis, vaccines or any, procedures that might be talked about.

In order to convey empathy to our patient and their patients, we should make sure to stay in a calm and reassuring tone of voice, make sure to be an active listener and acknowledge any concerns that the parents have as well as use eye contact to ensure that they know that I am with them throughout this process. During stressful situation some parents might become angry or rude, which is why it is important for Medical Assistants to keep their composure and maintain kind, reassuring, and calm attitudes.

Staff Coordination (15 minutes):

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

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

In order to coordinate efficiently and effectively, the team must come together in order to discuss how serious and threatening the injury is. This means we would have to have brief team meeting in order to properly give other staff members the information that they need in order to work with the patient and their parents. In order to keep the management of this urgent case smooth, a brief meeting is important because it allows every staff member to be on the same page when it comes to the care of the patient.

Ensuring the continuity of care for the child is important and should always be done smoothly when changing shifts. As the Medical Assistant you should talk to the parents and let them know that their case will be given to another person and tell them that you will be leaving. Before you leave you should connect with the person taking over your patient and tell them all of the information that you have along with any comments about the parents. This will ensure that the handover is a lot smoother.

5. Ethical Considerations (15 minutes):

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

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

We must always keep in consideration how the patient and their family must be feeling. They didn’t think they would be coming to a clinic this late, especially with an urgent problem. Therefore, we should treat them with the same respect we would give any other patient who is walking in with an urgent problem. So, it’s important to put the patient and their family in a sterile, clean area so that they will stay safe, especially if it’s an urgent problem because they especially need to be put into a sanitized area.

Something that may come up could be that it’s late into the shift and some needed personnel might have gone home already or some staff member might have already started the closing process. This may start some issues within the staff but at the end of the day our first priority is the patient’s wellbeing and safety.

6. Documentation and Compliance (10 minutes):

– Review the importance of documentation and regulatory compliance during closing procedures.

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

Ensuring that the patient has every one of their documents is important because if they don’t, then we cannot check them in or have them seen by the doctor. This would then result in the parents becoming angry and most importantly, the child being in danger of their health and safety. We need their documents to check in so that we can get out sheets for their vaccines, vitals, and exam room comments so that it can all be properly filed in their record. Whether that be electronic or paper.

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.

In this session we learned the important of communicating clearly with the patient and their family, clearly setting expectations for the family, being calm and reassuring throughout their visit, and implementing strategy in order for everyone to be able to clock out on time. In order to enhance clinic operations after seeing this problem, I would implement a rule or suggestion to go outside of our door. This would tell parents and patients that they should get to the clinic at least 2 hours before the closing time in order for them to get the best possible care that they could get. This would allow them to have enough time for a thorough appointment with the doctor. Throughout this discussion I learned that it is important to stay calm and professional when something out of the ordinary happens in the clinic.

Elizabeth Diaz, Ms. Lauryn