Question

Prompt: Mrs. Fargo checks in to the health clinic for her appointment. She has brought her children with her to the clinic. While in the waiting room before the session begins, the children are noisy and begin running through the waiting area. Rebecca is trying to work at the front desk and is getting frustrated. She begins speaking to another employee, loudly enough so that some people in the waiting room can hear what she is saying. She is overheard saying, “These people (referring to Mrs. Fargo) don’t know how to control their kids.” Rebecca tells Mrs. Fargo, “If you don’t get control of your children, you’ll have to reschedule your appointment for another day and get your check-ups done later. There are other patients waiting and they are being disturbed with the loud noise. More so, it is a noise free zone”. Mrs. Fargo leaves the clinic without getting her wellness check done. Mrs. Fargo later calls the doctor’s office and states that she was discriminated against and was denied services. Mrs. Fargo says that she heard what Rebecca was saying about her family and felt really shattered.

Questions:

1. It was later found that Rebecca did not mean to hurt or insult but was not sure how to ask Mrs. Fargo & family to maintain silence. How could Rebecca improve her communication while negotiating in such circumstances? What are the offers and counteroffers she could have made here?

2.What could have Mrs. Fargo done to make sure that her wellness check was done the very same day? Suggest atleast three ways by which Mrs. Fargo could improve her communication skills?

** You MUST include atleast 5 different SOURCES (websites, newsletters, published journal articles, news reports, video blogs, etc.) while answering the above questions.**

Answer 1

A1. Rebecca could improve her communication skills by being polite to the patients visiting the clinic. They are visiting the clinic for a reason - to get a health check-up. Maybe due to an illness or a regular checkup but the least they deserve is some kindness from the clinic staff. Rebecca could have:

• Asked Mrs. Fargo nicely to contain her kids and implied that the noise they were making was disturbing some of the patients in a kind manner
• Could have offered the family playroom to Mrs. Fargo to help in keeping her kids occupied.
• Could have asked Mrs. Fargo to avail some snacks for her kids from the canteen. this would have helped her in keeping the kids busy.
• Could have provided the noisy kids with some blank papers and pencils to spent their time in a peaceful yet enjoyable manner.

It was her responsibility to be polite and kind to the patients and passing rude comments should not be a way of diffusing a situation such as this. It could have been a simple matter of asking and she would have helped the situation without hurting the patients' sentiments.

A2. Mrs. Fargo was responsible for her kids and she should have made more of an effort to keep her kids quiet at a place like a health clinic. She could have helped the situation and made sure she got the checkup the same day by:

• Understanding that her kids were being noisy and disturbing the others. she could have brought some toys or books to keep her kids occupied while waiting in the clinic.
• She could have taken them for a stroll instead of waiting in the hospital. she could have provided her mobile number and asked the receptionist to ring her when her turn comes up.
• She could have asked for some papers and pencils from the reception and should have tried to keep her kids occupied with them while waiting.

In any situation, understanding others' problem and trying to make an effort to be less disturbing to them is a common courtesy and she should have done her best to be as less disturbing to the patients waiting in the clinic as she could.