Test Your Facilitator Skills Answers and Explanations

 

A participant states they won’t take any medication when they speak up in response to a scenario about high blood pressure. You might reply: .

1. You shouldn’t take the medication if you don’t want to
2. Thank you for sharing your preference and it is a choice you may want to discuss with your clinician
3. Tell us why you wouldn’t take medication
4. Does anyone else feel this way and doesn’t want to take medication?

Answer is 2 - We can’t give medical advice (nor legal or financial advice) but participants should always be encouraged to talk to their medical team.  There may be other medical issues we are not aware of so even if you work in healthcare, no medical advice should be given.  

 

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A program participant shares her story of being sent home from the hospital and delivering her baby at home when she thought she might be in labor. Another participant asks “Why did you leave?” What would you, the facilitator say / do?

1. Tell the woman who shared her story that she shouldn’t have left
2. Thank the woman for sharing her story and remind everyone that participants are not questioned about their choices or decisions.
3. Thank both participants for their interest in the discussion then tell the participant who asked “why did you leave” to not ask questions.
4. Ask the woman who shared her story how she is and if she was ok

 

Answer is 2 - You would not want to continue asking questions (4) and this is a good opportunity to remind everyone about the no question policy.

 

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A participant is describing a long personal medical experience in great detail. The    group appears to be uncomfortable/bored. You might say:

1. 1. Is there a point to this story?
   2. I’m sorry to stop you there. The issues you bring up are very important.    Time does not permit addressing them now. Let’s talk after the workshop.
   3. Excuse me but we need to be mindful of the time and move on.  Your information can be shared with the group later.
   4. Maybe you can write your story for a blog

Answer is 2 - You would not want to make the rest of the group uncomfortable or concerned that the story will continue.  If you don’t want to continue the story later, you can give the participant the Pulse CPSEA phone number to continue the conversation.

 

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One participant is very upset about complications his wife experienced during a recent hospitalization. He announces his mistrust of the healthcare system every chance he gets. The facilitator should: 

1. Acknowledge there are many problems in the healthcare system and then emphasize that the goal is to find and share solutions. 
2. Tell all the participants that they are there to listen and learn from each other’s experiences. 
3. Offer to search Advocacy & Support services after the program. 
4. Ask participants how they handled some of the challenges faced by the person who was venting his frustration. 

 

Answer is 1 - We don’t want to make light of the experience someone has had, but we can’t allow his story to dominate the conversation.  Let participants know that experiences such as these brings us together to find solutions.   

 

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While discussing the complaint process and where people may file a complaint about medical care, someone says “no one cares” and continues talking about how she could not find justice.  What would you, the facilitator say?

1. 1. I’m sorry you had a bad experience. Do you want to expand on it?
   2. The system doesn’t always work. Maybe we can talk more about it later.
   3. What did you do?
   4. Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

Answer is 2 -Someone like this is probably very angry and its important to recognize that they are probably correct - that the system may have failed her.  Again, talking about this later may mean giving her the Pulse phone number so her story and experience can be shared in more depth. Some people may need counseling and have not received it.  Pulse offers peer to peer support that might be helpful. 

 

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A participant who says she is a nurse for forty years goes on a rant that anyone can complain to the Department of Health or The Joint Commission and have a facility “shut down”.  She is agitated and believes she is correct. You are hesitant to confront her with the correct information which may lead to an argument. What might you say or do?

1. 1. Ignore her comments and move on.
   2. Thank her for sharing and explain to the group that no oversight or accrediting body can come in and close or shut down a hospital or other facility.  There is a process for that.
   3. Ask her to step outside the room and explain that she has misinformation and you would like to explain to the group appropriately the process of fines or penalty.
   4. Explain to the group that this is a topic for another day and move on.

 

Answer is 2 - You wouldn’t want to ask her to step outside (C) but you would want her and everyone there to know that there is a system in place for evaluation of complaints and correction of healthcare facilities.  By ignoring these comments participants may leave with misinformation.

 

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A woman says that doctors tried to murder her by giving her the wrong medication.  She says that if she was a man, people would take her more seriously. You would say:

1. I am sorry to hear that and glad you are OK now
2. That must have been scary, are you OK now?
3. We know there are biases and that is why we do this work. 
4. I’m sure that’s not true and it was probably just a mistake.

 

Answer is 3 - You are correct in acknowledging that there are biases without commenting specifically on her experience.  You won’t want to say you are glad she is OK now (A) as she may not be, and still sounds like she is angry.  Asking if she is OK (C) may bring up another conversation completely.

 

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A woman starts to share her story and then tells the group “I had the best malpractice attorney.  His name is…………..” and she shares the name. Others in the group start a conversation with her about her experience with the attorney.  You realize you may be losing the audience’s attention. What would you do?

1. Move your body as close to the group as possible and say “We can’t discuss this right now”
2. Move as close as possible to the woman who started the discussion and explain to her that just like good and bad medical care there is good and bad legal advice.
3. Stand tall and ask everyone to come back and focus on the topic explaining that information like that can be shared after the discussion.
4. Allow them to continue for one minute and then ask them to allow you to finish. 

 

Answer is 3 - We encourage participants to share information but not the names of anyone during the presentation.  The rule to not use names would include attorneys, clinicians and even hospitals, nursing homes, etc.. Because someone may have had a bad experience with that attorney, it can make the conversation become controversial.  The same with saying what hospital or medical team was involved with good or bad outcomes.

 

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During a practice session, someone says “this is ridiculous” and storms out of the room.  You would:

1. 1. Run after her
   2. Ignore what just happened
   3. Ask the group if they mind if you went after her.  If they were OK with that, go.
   4. Ask someone in the group if they know what happened and are willing to check on her. If no one does, continue.

 

Answer is 4 - Since someone in the group may know the person better, it may be helpful if they found her and spoke to her.  Keeping in mind that no one may want to miss the presentation and leave to find her, it is not your responsibility to please everyone there.  Since you may have said something to offend her, asking the group if they know what happened may be helpful to you to know if, in fact that’s what happened.  The person who left may be under other stress that has nothing to do with you or the presentation and participants in the group may be aware of that.

 

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A healthcare professional uses medical terms during a discussion.  Because you recognize that other participants may not understand what is being said you would:

1. 1. Ask them to stop using acronyms
   2. Remind the group that we all need to explain the terms we are using
   3. Use this opportunity to remind the group to ask for questions or for clarity (just like if they are at the doctor’s office)
   4. Develop a chart of acronyms

 

Answer is 3 - This is a great way to practice asking for clarification.  You may even want to turn it into a brief role play by encouraging one participant to ask the other to clarify and then repeat back to be sure they understand what is being said.

 

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During a discussion about a healthcare proxy, someone asks if that is the same thing as a power of attorney.  You are not 100% sure but think you are knowledgeable about it because you have seen your attorney to get this with a family member.  You should:

1. 1. Say you are pretty sure because I have done this so I can explain
   2. Ask if anyone in the group can help with an explanation
   3. Admit you are not sure but can only go by your experience
   4. Let them know that is not part of the discussion and they need a lawyer for that information.

 

Answer is 3 - Since this is not your expertise and you are not to give legal information, be sure to say that this is your experience and not advice or legal information.   Also ask if anyone else has had their own experience. We do not tell people what to do - at Pulse we share actual experiences.

 

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During a discussion someone shares the loss of a family member and uses the word malpractice that caused it.  How might you intervene in this discussion?

1. 1. Let the speaker know that you understand how terrible that is for her yet we also want to acknowledge that bad things happen when it’s not malpractice.
   2. Ask the speaker how she knew it was malpractice.
   3. Ask if she had a lawsuit because if not, it would not be malpractice and she is making false claims.
   4. Thank her for sharing and let the group know we focus on all bad or unplanned outcomes not just those that focus on negligence or malpractice

 

Answer is 4 - Most people don’t realize that bad things can happen without it being the cause of someone doing something wrong (malpractice).  A bad reaction to medication is just one example. The person may, in fact know it was actually malpractice that caused her family members death so you would not want to challenge this specific experience.

 

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When speaking about choosing a doctor, a few people say they would never use a doctor from another country or who doesn’t speak English.  How might you react to this?

1. 1. Allow the conversation to continue hoping someone will speak up who has had a good experience with a doctor from another country.
   2. Share how bias is something we need to recognize goes both ways
   3. Ask if the speakers have had a bad experience and is that why they are saying that.
   4. Ask how many people in the group feel the same way

 

Answer is 2 - Comments like this are often alive in people who don’t openly share their bias.  Allowing this person to share that information is a great way to acknowledge that there are biases.  We all have biases and the problem is not that we have them it’s how it affects our behavior towards others. This might affect the care they received from their clinician.  By using this as a way to choose a clinician, you may want to explain to this person they may be missing out on some of the best doctors available.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please contact Pulse CPSEA