An IV therapist at Acme Medical Center is asked to draw blood on a comatose patient. She knocks as she enters the room, introduces herself, informs the patient why she is there, verifies that she has the right patient, and then describes what she’s doing as she places the tourniquet on his arm, and swabs with alcohol. Just as she states, “I am about to put the needle in your vein. You will feel a sticking sensation,” the Chief Resident enters the room with his coterie of junior residents, medical students, and nurses.
The Chief Resident points out in a condescending tone that the patient is in a coma and there is no need to speak to him. The IV therapist replies that hearing is the last sense to go—even for people in a coma. The Chief Resident laughs and says, “You’d better be able to speak Russian, because that’s what he is.”
The IV therapist thanks the resident and then speaks to the patient in Russian. The crowd bursts into laughter and the crimson-faced Chief Resident storms out of the room.
Discussion Questions
1. What are the facts in this situation?
2. Lack of civility in the workplace has become a topic of discussion in many health care organizations. Identify two examples of civility and two examples of incivility in this case. Provide a rationale for your responses.
3. How might our cultural upbringing, personal assumptions, and opinions influence our etiquette, civility, or incivility as health care managers? Do you think health care workers and managers should be held to a higher standard for civility in the workplace? Provide rationales for your responses.
4. Did the Chief Resident behave in an appropriate manner? What assumptions do you think he held about the patient? The IV therapist? His colleagues? What, if anything, should the IV therapist have done after this incident? Provide your reflections and personal opinions as well as your recommendations and rationale for your responses.
