...Communication Barriers at Duke Medical Center Introduction: Effective communication requires messages to be conveyed clearly to the appropriate parties, but along the way there are many communication barriers that can create misunderstandings and misinterpretations of the intended message (Burns et al., 2012). Such misunderstandings and misinterpretations are apparent in the case of Jesica Santillon. This case study will identify the social and cultural barriers that may have made it difficult for the doctors to communicate with Jessica’s family. This case study will also offer recommendations on modification of the transplant process to ensure that misunderstandings are eliminated or minimized; and lastly it will propose some general communication strategies to manage communication with each group involved in this tragic case. Communication Barriers There may have been many communication barriers that hindered the doctors from effectively communicating with Jesica’s family. We will discuss some social and cultural communication barriers between the physicians and Jesica’s family: The language differences may have been a leading obstacle to effective communication between the physicians and the family, The family recently migrated to the United States seeking treatment for Jesica's condition and were not fluent in the English language. Health literacy may have also induced the communication barrier between the physicians and...
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...Tragic Medication Errors: Accidental Abortions and Premature Birth Lynn Fernandez December 7, 2014 Professor Martinez Miami Dade College Tragic Medication Errors: Accidental Abortions and Premature Birth Medication errors within the healthcare system have become increasingly pervasive throughout the years yielding adverse effects to corresponding patients. Medication errors refer to an “unintentional significant reduction in the probability of treatment being timely and effective or increase in the risk of harm when compared with generally accepted practice” (Velo & Minuz, 2009, p. 624). These effects may vary from virtually no harm with minimal inconveniences to inexorable toxic fatality for the patient. This article focuses on a prescription error that mistakenly took the life of 11-month old Tranlya Sampson as her mother was prescribed a drug that is commonly used to force dead fetuses out of the mother’s womb as well as two unborn twins that lost their lives due to the same medication error in the same day. Due to this drug, Tranlya suffered brain damage and remains hospitalized due to health complications. A wrong medical decision made by a healthcare provider is a probable cause for medication errors, which can derive from a lack of knowledge or inadequate training. Lacking experience in the healthcare workforce or lack of skills to complete certain tasks can be associated with prescribing faults (Dean, Schachter, Vincent, & Barber, 2012). In a Florida...
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..."pity and fear" and "catharsis" developed into one of Western philosophy's greatest questions: why is it that people are drawn to watching tragic heroes suffer horrible fates? Aristotle's ideas revolve around three crucial effects: First, the audience develops an emotional attachment to the tragic hero; second, the audience fears what may befall the hero; and finally (after misfortune strikes) the audience pities the suffering hero. Through these attachments the individual members of the audience go through a catharsis, a term which Aristotle borrowed from the medical writers of his day, which means a "refining" -- the viewer of a tragedy refines his or her sense of difficult ethical issues through a vicarious experious of such thorny problems. Clearly, for Aristotle's theory to work, the tragic hero must be a complex and well-constructed character, as in Sophocles' Oedipus the King. As a tragic hero, Oedipus elicits the three needed responses from the audience far better than most; indeed, Aristotle and subsequent critics have labeled Oedipus the ideal tragic hero. A careful examination of Oedipus and how he meets and exceeds the parameters of the tragic hero reveals that he legitimately deserves this title. Oedipus' nobility and virtue provide his first key to success as a tragic hero. Following Aristotle, the audience must respect the tragic hero as a "larger and better" version of themselves. The dynamic nature of Oedipus' nobility earns him this respect. First, as any Greek...
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...21, 2013 Case Summarization New expensive medical therapies are introduced to physicians, technicians, and hospitals for specific cancer patients. The medical treatment, radiation therapy gives the patients and their family hope of curing the disease and to live the remainder of life cancer-free. Radiation therapy is proven to work on multiple cancer diseases such as brain cancer, breast cancer, and prostate cancer. Radiation therapy can cause side effects by damaging healthy cells that are located near the cancer. In this case study, it explains when using the advanced technology incorrectly it can result in the patients’ sickness worsening, and may even result to death. Scott Jerome-Parks Story Scott Jerome-Parks is a 43 year old man who worked in Southern Manhattan near the site of the tragic World Trade Center attack and months later was diagnosed with tongue cancer. He suspected it had to involve the toxic dust that he came in contact with at the scene of the attack. He was treated at the New York City Hospital and became a candidate to receive radiation treatment provided by one of the top facilities, St. Vincent’s Hospital. During the treatment the computer had crashed while showing errors that the physicians decided to ignore. When they ran a report to see the progress of the patient they discovered that the multi-leaf collimator, which is supposed to target directly at the tumour, was wide open. This careless mistake resulted in the patient experiencing deafness...
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...Richardson Medical Law and Ethics & Records Management for Billing Specialists (ME1420) Catina Flagg October 24, 2015 A Young Girl’s Case, 2 A Young Girl’s Case A young girl went into surgery to remove her tonsils, adenoids, and extra sinus tissue. She went through the surgery just fine. Family members say she was alert and talking just fine. Shortly after surgery, the girl began bleeding profusely, went into cardiac arrest, and is now brain dead. 1. There was a similar incidence that occurred sometime ago. According to the NBC news report, there was a young girl, same scenario as this assignment, which had a surgery due to a tonsillectomy. She died the same way as this girl in the assignment did. According to an author on the NBC news report, ARTHUR CAPLAN, PH.D, they said, “Brain dead is dead. It is as reliable a way to determine death as declaring that a person’s heart has forever stopped beating. In fact, due to the strict tests and procedures that have to be followed to determine brain death, it is probably even more error-free than pronouncing someone dead due to cardiac failure”. 2. The prudent person rule applies to this case because the doctors were arguing about the debate whether to keep her on the ventilator. The doctors said she was already brain dead. The patient’s family members should’ve looked into this, it could’ve helped her case. 3. Yes, I believe that this tragedy could have been prevented. Reason being, the doctors could have checked her past medical history...
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...me no so i went outside to play until i heard the door open, then I stood on the back bumper of the truck and crouched down where i would be unseen. The vehicle started moving backwards, and before I knew it we were driving down our steep, bumpy hill and we reached the road. The vehicle started to increase in speed, and all I remember was blacking out. Everything had gone to silence; I thought i was dead. I don't remember falling off the truck, or rolling on the rough asphalt, but i do remember waking up in my brother's arms bleeding tremendously all over him while my father was panicking trying to drive me to the Shannon Fire Department for help. I was then strapped to a stretcher and rushed in an ambulance to Floyd Medical Center to recieve immediate medical attention. I had blacked out multiple times between that period. Awaken again from this terrible tragedy, the doctors placed me in a CT-scan and through my eyes everything looked as if it were the color green. A nurse injected a shot in my arm and from there on out I was asleep. The doctors started stitching my head first, it took them...
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...Case study: When radiation therapy kills When new expensive medical therapies come along, promising to cure people of illness, one would think that the manufacturers, doctors,and technicians, along with the hospitals and state oversight agencies, would take extreme caution in their application and use. Often this is not the case. Contemporary radiation therapy offers a good example of society failing to anticipate and control the negative impacts of a technology powerful enough to kill people. For individuals and their families suffering through a battle with cancer, technical advancements in radiation treatment represent hope and a chance for a healthy, cancer-free life. But when these highly complex machines used to treat cancers go awry or when nedical technicians and doctors fail to follow proper safety procedures, it results in suffering worse than ailments radication aims to cure. A litany of horror stories underscore the consequences when hospitals fail to provide safe radiation treatment to cancer patients. In many of these horror stories, poor software design, poor human-machine interfaces and lack of proper training are root causes of the problems. The deaths of Scott Jerome-Parks and Alexandra Jn-Charles, both patients of New york City hospitals, are prime examples of radiation treatments going awry. Jerome-Parks worked in southern Manhattan near the side of the World Trade Center attacks, and suspected that the tongue cancer he developed later was related to...
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...When Radiation Therapy Kills CASE STUDY When new expensive medical therapies come along, promising to cure people of illness, one would think that the manufacturers, doctors, and technicians, along with the hospitals and state oversight agencies, would take extreme caution in their application and use. Often this is not the case. Contemporary radiation therapy offers a good example of society failing to anticipate and control the negative impacts of a technology powerful enough to kill people. For individuals and their families suffering through a battle with cancer, technical advancements in radiation treatment represent hope and a chance for a healthy, cancer-free life. But when these highly complex machines used to treat cancers go awry or when medical technicians and doctors fail to follow proper safety procedures, it results in suffering worse than the ailments radiation aims to cure. A litany of horror stories underscores the consequences when hospitals fail to provide safe radiation treatment to cancer patients. In many of these horror stories, poor software design, poor human-machine interfaces, and lack of proper training are root causes of the problems. The deaths of Scott Jerome-Parks and Alexandra Jn-Charles, both patients of New York City hospitals, are prime examples of radiation treatments going awry. Jerome-Parks worked in southern Manhattan near the site of the World Trade Center attacks, and suspected that the tongue cancer he developed later was related...
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...think it should not be permitted in any circumstances. While I can understand the logic of its supporters, I believe that tolerance is the equal of corruption. People can go on for ages discussing what's right and wrong about euthanasia, but I want to address a number of the arguments that I found most important which are the mistakes made to kill innocent lives, euthanasia and the law, and voluntary euthanasia. Euthanasia itself as a theory is quite cruel. It disregards the means of hope. For such a recent practice it is hard to pinpoint its consequences. It is often hard to tell the difference between the victims and the family. As a fact, euthanasia is illegal in Canada. People who euthanize can violate the patient's rights, create an economic burden, interfere with a doctor's job, or increase suffering among them. It is never easy to watch your loved ones suffer, but I consider it is better if someone dies of natural causes. The cycle of life has been embedded into history and breaking it could be dangerous. The consequences to euthanize may be held against a person for their entire life because there will always be regret consuming someone for the mistake to end the other person's life that way. These consequences can range from emotional effects, to...
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...is important to watch out for the warning signs of child abuse. Child abuse is the worst form of treatment one can mete out to a child. The child is scarred for life, mentally, emotionally as well as physically. It can lead to irreparable damage to the young mind and body. In some cases, it leads to a tragic loss of young life. Ignoring signs of child abuse is a crime. If you are worried that someone you know is suffering from abuse at the hands of their parents, guardians or some other person, then make sure you seek help from authorities. If you are wondering what are the signs of child abuse and neglect, then go through the following list. Types of Child Abuse Child abuse is not always broken bones and unexplained bruises. There are different types of child abuse like emotional abuse, educational abuse, sexual abuse, neglect and so on, apart from physical abuse. Let us have a look at the different types to understand the signs of child abuse better. Emotional Abuse Emotional abuse is the one when the parent or the abuser constantly shames, humiliates and belittles a child. The child is always compared with others and told he/she is worthless, bad or a mistake. The child is threatened or yelled at frequently and suffers from verbal abuse. The child is never...
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...COMMUNICATIONS IN BUSINESS 100 Name: Anonymous 2 Student Number: 12345678 Email: anonym2@mail.au Company: Chevron Corporation Title: Corporate Social Responsibility: An Analysis of Chevron Other Details: Semester 1 2014, Bentley Campus (Word Count: 1568) Introduction Multinational Energy Companies, like Chevron Corporation, have a broad and significant social, economic and environmental impact on the globe and as such are in a position to influence the lives of many people. Chevron is involved in many different facets of the energy business, including exploration, refining, production and transportation. The company employs approximately 60 000 people in the oil and natural gas industry, with interest in 180 countries (Chevron Corporation SWAT, 2009). With the rise in global communication associated with the information age, companies like Chevron have to establish symbiotic relationships, focused on sustainable development, with society in order to satisfy increasingly environmentally conscious stakeholders. In this context a symbiotic relationship refers to one that is cooperative and mutually beneficial (Langella et al. 2012, 51). At the foundation of such a relationship is respect for health...
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...have made it difficult for the doctors to communicate with Jesica’s family. This case study will also offer recommendations to modify the transplant process to ensure that misunderstandings are eliminated or minimized; and lastly it will propose some general communication strategies to manage communication with each group involved in this tragic case. Social and Cultural Barriers to Communication There may have been many communication barriers that hindered the doctors from effectively communicating with Jesica’s family. The language differences may have been a leading obstacle to effective communication between the physicians and the family. The family recently migrated to the United States seeking treatment for Jesica's condition and were not fluent in the English language. Immigrants that lack English skills and familiarity with diagnostic techniques and treatments used in the United States are less likely to receive the care and medical information they need (Freeman, 2013). Health literacy may have also induced the communication barrier between the physicians and the family. Health literacy involves the ability to understand medical terms and health care information—health literacy is a communication barrier for individuals native to the English language (Day, 2019). With the language barrier already in place the health literacy barrier may have additionally contributed to the...
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...With or Without Abortion There are a few topics that are quite controversial in this decade. Whether abortion should be legal or not is one of them. There have been plenty of arguments involving this controversy. As for the legal aspect, there have been some court cases concerning abortion. One could have many reasons as to why abortion should be legal: a women’s freedom of her body, rape instances, and birth control failures are some of them. Pregnancies do occur even when women are taking precautions to ensure there are no mistakes. Using a birth control method is normal for a majority of women. There are IUD’s, pills, condoms, spermicides, diaphragm, cervical caps, and withdrawal. “The fact is that an overwhelming 53% of unplanned pregnancies occur in women who are using contraceptives” (Cornforth, 2009). Using IUD’s can have a two to four percent failure rate. If the IUD moves out of its place it will not function correctly. A woman should regularly check the string to confirm the IUD’s placement in the cervix. If using a diaphragm or cervical cap, the possibility of contraception is still at thirteen percent. It is quite easy for these to shift in their placement and therefore, producing less protection. The withdrawal method is used frequently, more in young adults. This reason is due to fact, of them either having a lack in education or they believe the false rumors they hear from their peers that pre-ejaculatory semen cannot impregnate them. Withdrawal can also fail...
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...“socially unacceptable” topic of discussion. It is something that affects hundreds of thousands of people each and every day, often in ways most cannot imagine. And I believe that it is something that needs to stop being hidden in the darkest of closets. Without this subject being discussed and researched with more depth than what is already taking place, it will remain a subject without a whole lot of general understanding behind the whys and the causes of people choosing to end their lives. I will admit that this topic is something extremely personal for me, so my views may be colored as to what should be done about the knowledge of suicide, however, I cannot help but feel that this topic is long overdue for its spotlight in the medical world. Make no mistake – this is not about the accidental suicides; it is very much about those who willingly and intentionally plan to and successfully commit suicide. There are various facts a quick Google search can dig up in regards to suicide – such as men are four times as likely to commit suicide than women are, and it's easily discernible that the focus on suicide prevention is on teenagers with recent focus being added to those considered “middle age”. It's also very easy to locate information on “how to help prevent suicide”. But the fact of the matter is is that there is not a lot of information out there regarding why people choose to commit. What makes people choose to kill themselves when so many people have dedicated themselves...
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...five brothers, since one of his older brothers died shortly after birth (Taraborrelli). His parents, Joseph, or Joe, and Katherine, shared one of the bedrooms while the boys shared the other bedroom with triple bunk beds. The girls slept on a pull out couch in the living room. After another little Jackson was born, he slept on another couch. Growing up in the Jackson house, Michael was expected to be a perfect child who made no mistakes. Becoming a part of the Jackson 5 was not ideal for the Jackson kids because they were abused. “Michael was too sensitive a boy to be manhandled by his father. He was...determined to avoid an altercation with Joseph. Infuriated, Joseph grabbed Michael, and according to Marlon, held him upside down by one leg and pummelled him over and over again with his hand, hitting him on his back and buttocks (Taraborrelli).” This was only one of the many times that Joseph beat Michael during his childhood and upcoming career. Since Michael was considered the star of the group, he received most of the punishments when he made a mistake (Lewis). The Jackson 5 started by performing at local talent shows and events around their town. The group spent endless hours rehearsing and getting better. Some of their songs were not as popular as others and did not generate much interest. They eventually signed to Motown Records and several of their songs went to the top of the Billboard charts. The first album that the Jacksons recorded was called “Diana Ross Presents The...
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