You are the nurse manager of a busy outpatient internal medicine clinic with 23 physicians on staff. While you are in your office working on the staff schedule for the next month, one of the nursing assistants rushes into your office to tell you that Mr. Altman, a patient who has been coming to the clinic regularly for the past 3 years, is on his way to see you and "He is really angry!" It has already been a hectic morning. Besides needing to complete the schedule, you also have a budget report due and you have to work in clinic this afternoon because one of the staff RNs is out on maternity leave and another is on vacation. Feeling very frustrated, you think to yourself, "This is not what I need today. I don’t have time to listen to a patient complain!" You also happen to know that Mr. Altman’s bill is more than 3 months past due and that on two occasions, the clinic social worker has given Mr. Altman bus vouchers to get home because he has no reliable transportation. Just then Mr. Altman enters your office and begins to complain that his doctor has violated his confidentiality rights.

What preconceived ideas about Mr. Altman might affect how you receive, understand, and respond to his message?