Work ethics
Based on the way that Dr Jones reacted to the phone call from Mrs. Smith, it is clear that he had a very low level of emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize one’s state of emotion as well as that of others and using it to determine how to talk to others or act around them depending on everyone’s emotional state. In the case of Dr. Jones, he only recognized how he felt emotionally and the effect that the phone call had on him. However, he failed to notice that his reaction was rude and uncalled for and he did this without considering the impact that his reaction had on Mrs. Smith’s emotions. Even after he got to the hospital, he seemed to be oblivious to the negative effect that his actions had on Mrs. Smith and how it made taking care of the patient complicated. On a scale of 1 to 10, Dr. Jones’s emotional intelligence can therefore be said to be a low 3 at most.
Mrs. Smith on the other hand demonstrated signs that she had a high level of emotional intelligence which could be rated as a strong nine. After realizing the nature of the patient’s condition, she immediately considered the nature of the emotional effect that the condition had on the patient and tried to make her as comfortable as possible (Freshman & Rubino, n.d). After she realized that the correct paperwork for the patient had not been provided, she hurriedly sought to resolve the situation so as to put the patient at ease. Even after Dr. Jones was rude and behaved in an unprofessional manner, Mrs. Smith tried as much as she could not to cause any further emotional turmoil to the doctor even if it meant not asking important questions (Freshman & Rubino, n.d).
Dr. Jones behavior was both unethical and unprofessional and he should be made to pay for the consequences of his actions. As a doctor, Dr. Jones had a responsibility to ensure that all documentation regarding a patient are presented in due time to ensure that the patient gets the right medical treatment even if the doctor is not present. However, his failure to inform the hospital that Mrs. Ford would be coming in to deliver her baby and his failure to present the prenatal record made it difficult to offer the appropriate medical assistance as the nurse was not aware that a patient with such a medical condition would be coming in (Freshman & Rubino, n.d). Furthermore, Dr. Jones instructed Mrs. Smith to prepare the patient for a C section delivery even when it was not necessary. His reasons for doing so was because a C section was faster than vaginal delivery and he wanted to be done with the patient quickly so as to get back to his personal business. Because of his actions, Dr. Jones should be sued on the grounds of medical malpractice. He intentionally neglected his duties, was ignorant, careless and engaged in an immoral and unprofessional manner not only with the patient but also with Mrs. Smith (Buchbinder & Shanks, 2012).
Despite the fact that it was known that the baby would not survive for long, Mrs. Smith should not question Dr. Jones’s order to feed the terminal baby because, in this instance, he was doing not only what was ethical but also his duty as a doctor. Doctors are trained to always give the best quality of care to their patients regardless of their medical condition or the patients chance to recover (Buchbinder & Shanks, 2012). Since the baby was not going to die immediately, letting the baby starve just because it was going to die eventually would have been immoral. As a caregiver, Dr. Jones had taken the oath that requires him to ensure the well being of all his patients and although he may have behaved unprofessionally, his decision to feed the baby was the right one.
Being the patient, Mrs. Ford should have had some say in what was going on around her. Since the conflict was obvious, she should have state her objection towards the unprofessionalism that Dr. Jones was portraying and asked him to provide the quality of care that she deserved as a patient. As the patient, she had the right to demand good quality treatment and if Dr. Jones was not willing to offer it, she should have asked for another doctor to help deliver the baby (Freshman & Rubino, n.d).
In order to train staff about emotional intelligence, the hospital could teach employees on how ones emotions can be affected by the actions of another and that they should always try to behave professionally and perform their duties accordingly (Buchbinder & Shanks, 2012). Mrs. Smith was unable to ask important questions as she could see that Dr. Jones was not in the right state of mind to give her the answers she needed. The hospital should therefore place emphasis on how emotional intelligence affects their ability to perform their duties and for there to be any progress, members of staff must be aware of other staff’s emotions and find a way to interact in a manner that is constructive (Buchbinder & Shanks, 2012).
As caregivers, the Neonatal ICU team is expected to demonstrate both beneficence and nonmaleficence. This means that the staff members should do all that they can to offer the best service to their patients and also ensure that they do not cause more harm to their patients in any way. For this to occur, members of staff must learn to work as a team because taking care of patients is a responsibility that is accomplished by more than one care giver (Buchbinder & Shanks, 2012). If, for example, Dr. Jones had handed in the patient’s medical records in time, Mrs. Smith would have been aware of her medical condition and would have prepared all that was needed to ensure that she received the best quality of care. Had the two care givers worked as a team, they would have saved Mrs. Ford the emotional pain felt during her visit. Through teamwork, the caregivers will be able to offer better quality of care to all their patients (Buchbinder & Shanks, 2012).
Reference
Buchbinder B and Shanks H, (2012), “Introduction to healthcare management” Jones and Bartlett Learning
Freshman B and Rubino L, (n.d) “Emotional intelligence in labor and delivery caase for chapters 2 and 13”
