Week 7 Discussion Board

Chapter 15

Summary Case:

Search for Truth

“There is nothing,” says Plato, “so delightful as the hearing or the speaking of truth”—for this reason there is no conversation so agreeable as that of the man of integrity, who hears without any intention to betray, and speaks without any intention to deceive.

—Thomas Sherlock

Learning Objectives

• Explain how the spoken word may not always clearly describe the intent of the message.

• Describe how values are intertwined in the communication process and how they can be instrumental in changing the course of one’s journey through life.

To laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children; to earn the approbation of honest citizens and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to give of one’s self; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived—this is to have succeeded.

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Virtues, Values, and Communications

• Each person must evaluate what values and moral strengths are important.

• When responding to the discussion questions following the closet drama in this chapter, apply the virtues and values presented as the pillars of moral strength.

Communications

• Exchange of thoughts, messages, or information through speech, signals, writing, or behavior. – The art and technique of using words

effectively to impart information or ideas. – Includes both verbal and nonverbal

messages. – Requires a sender, a message, and an

intended recipient, the receiver.

Case Characters: Athens Medical Center (AMC)

• Ms. Ophelia Cicero: AMC, survey coordinator and tour guide

Case Characters: Inspection Survey Team

• Mr. Daniel Marcus: Administrative reviewer • Mr. Damon Antonio: Nurse reviewer • Ms. Margaret Galeria: Nurse trainee • Dr. Machiavelli: Physician reviewer

Case Characters: Magistrate and Counselors

• Magistrate: Hearing officer • Counselor Hadrian: Counsel representing

Marcus • Counselor Luke: Counsel representing Dr.

Machiavelli and Damon

Case Characters: Health Review Council

• Mr. Bruce Verus: Marcus’s manager • Ms. Carol Titus: Mr. Verus’s manager

Case Settings (1 of 2)

• Rome – Mr. Marcus’s hometown

• Health Review Council – Entity responsible for evaluating the quality of care in

health centers from Rome to Athens

• Courtroom of Chief Magistrate – Site of the hearing in Athens

Case Settings (2 of 2)

• Athens Health Center – Local medical facility in Athens Marcus was assigned

to review

• Pelopidas Street Inn – Hotel where reviewers lodged

Marcus’s Work

Marcus worked for the Health Review Council, whose mission was to visit health centers from Rome to Athens and review the quality of patient care. He traveled much of the time, writing, consulting, educating, and reviewing the quality of care rendered to the people. His travels took him to hundreds of health centers in villages and cities.

Marcus’s Last Assignment

• This closet drama describes Marcus’s last assignment to review the quality of patient care at the Athens Health Center. – This case illustrates:

• How real-life events can become distorted through political alliances.

• How good and truth, in the final analysis, can triumph over wrong.

Memorable Quotes Often Ignored By Corporate Leaders for Self-Preservation

The most striking contradiction of our civilization is the fundamental reverence for truth, which we profess and the thorough-going disregard for it, which we practice.

—Vilhjalmur Stefansson

The withholding of truth is sometimes a worse deception than a direct misstatement. There is an idiom in truth which falsehood never can imitate.

—Lord Napier

To seek for the truth, for the sake of knowing the truth, is one of the noblest objects a man can live for.

—William Ralph Inge

Discussion

1. Describe the ethical and legal issues in this closet drama as they relate to the various characters.

2. Describe the virtues and values at play.

3. Describe why you think there was a breakdown in communications between Dr. Caesar and Marcus.

Discussion

4. In light of the fact that 70% of diagnoses are made as the result of labs tests, would you expect Marcus to inquire what the lab results had revealed about the patient’s state of health?

5. Describe your overall impression of this case, and how you would have handled it if you were Marcus.

Discussion

6. After considering yourself in the position of each character in this closet drama, describe which role you would have chosen to play. Explain your choice of character.

7. How would you describe the culture of the Health Review Council?

8. Utilizing the communications process in Fig. 15-2, how would you describe the values of each character in this case?