mrs. patel, an indian-speaking mom, took her son to the doctor for a cough and he was diagnosed with asthma. he was given a prescription for the medication. the prescription read, “take 2 ml by mouth twice daily.” the doctor asked his staff to give mrs. patel the instructions in hindi language. the mother saw the number “2” on the bottle and gave her son two teaspoons for each dose. after two doses, her son felt worse, so mrs. patel took him back to the doctor. the staff had never given mrs. patel the instructions in hindi language, resulting in the patient having received five times the dose each time he received the medication. this could have been fatal.
1. why do you think mrs. patel’s son’s condition became worse?
2. how could you improve the information the patient was given?
3. how could you improve communication between providers and clinical staff?
4. what changes can be made in your organization to prevent this from happening?
1) Mrs patel has given 2 teaspoons of medication which is 5 ml twice daily. The prescribed dose is 2 ml twice a day. The condition of her son is worsened because of the extra dose given. Overdose of asthma medication can result in difficulty in breathing, fever, chills and tremors.
2) As Mrs patel says she has given the medication 2 teaspoon daily, there is extra dose in patient. So it has to be expelled . Excess of drug in the stomach can be absorbed by using activated charcoal or place tube in mouth to remove the content from stomach. Ventilation can be given if patient feels difficulty in breathing.
3) Inorder to improve the communication between providers and staffs incorporate effective communication programs in organisation training programs. Patient satisfaction surveys and regular meetings for employees has to be scheduled. Make communication as a part of organisation’s culture.
4) First of all the lack of language known to the staff is the issue here. So while recruiting the staffs language is made a criteria for the selection.
Demonstrate the dose to be given to patient in a measurable containers if the provider do not verbally explain if there is a language barrier.
mrs. patel, an indian-speaking mom, took her son to the doctor for a cough and he...
Based on the results of below given case study, please explain following points; Mrs. Patel, an Indian-speaking mom, took her son to the doctor for a cough and he was diagnosed with asthma. He was given a prescription for the medication. The prescription read, “Take 2 ml by mouth twice daily.” The doctor asked his staff to give Mrs. Patel the instructions in Hindi language. The mother saw the number “2” on the bottle and gave her son two teaspoons...
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