Assignment task:
Mrs Angela Mariotti is a 72 year old woman who has a terminal disease. She is living in a nursing home, as her husband can no longer care for her. As a result of her tumour she is no longer able to eat solid food without choking. Her food consistency has been downgraded to pureed, by the speech-language pathologist. Mrs Mariotti has been found to be competent to make her own decisions.
You come back from your lunch break and find her very upset, with her own lunch scattered across the floor of her room, shouting in her mother tongue. Her out-of-town daughter is visiting and has left the room, crying.
When you talk to Mrs Mariotti you find out that she is tired of pureed food and is demanding to eat pizza. You explain that solid food will likely cause her to choke and if she aspirates, will likely get pneumonia, and may even die as a result. Mrs Mariotti says she understands and is prepared to take the risk. She tells you, "This is no way to live. If I have no quality of life, what really is the point? I love my food...my real food, not this baby food you keep bringing me. I know the risk and I will take my chances.
Mrs Mariotti's condition has worsened and she is now unable to swallow any food. Her disease has progressed quickly and she also cannot speak. She remains competent and now her husband visits every day. The health care team is considering placement of a feeding tube based upon the husband's insistence. He agrees with the health care team that his wife will probably not live much longer, but wants the feeding tube in case the doctors are wrong.
Progressing from last week's information: Mrs Mariotti's general condition has remained the same since last week. She is comfortable and a decision has been made regarding the feeding tube.
The only difference is that now Mrs Mariotti has a urinary tract infection (UTI). An intravenous infusion has been inserted for antibiotic therapy and hydration purposes while she has the UTI. You overhear your colleague using a lot of jargon while informing Mrs Mariotti of this new diagnosis, and while providing teaching to her and her husband.
Based on the above mentioned case, answer the following questions:
To inform Mrs. and Mr. Mariotti of the urinary tract infection and the teaching you must provide to assist them in the treatment and recovery, write a script that includes all the pertinent medical jargon you can think of.
Make a brief script to explain the aforementioned scenario so Mrs. and Mr. Mariotti will comprehend everything you say.
When thinking about jargon, how can you role model effective communication when working with the interprofessional team?