Scenario 1:

Mr Williams is an 86-year-old man who has come into the intensive care unit after suffering an acute stroke.

He is the proud father of five children, all of whom are married, and a grandfather of eight. Some of these grandchildren are old enough to have spouses of their own.

Unfortunately, Mr William's wife died last year and his care has been transferred to his eldest daughter, Sylvia.

The relationship between Sylvia and her siblings is complicated, and all of them have insisted on obtaining a security code for themselves to access information about Mr William's condition. Sylvia, not wanting to start an argument, has given it to her brothers and sisters, who in turn, gave it to a few grandchildren.

Every day on the unit, the nurse assigned to Mr William's receives at least five phone calls about his status. Although the nurse tries to be concise, often these conversations can take up to twenty minutes. After a few days of this, the day nurse brings the family together and explains the difficulties in handling so many calls when their father’s care is so critical.

In this scenario you can assume you are the nurse or another healthcare professional working with the patient who wants to address the situation

A. What biases and personal assumptions would I need to manage to properly handle this scenario? What would I need to learn more about?
B. What strategies could I use to respond in a confident, compassionate and respectful manner? Write a paragraph in quotations of what you would possibly say in response to the situation
C. What would be an appropriate way to communicate with individuals in this scenario? What would be an inappropriate way?