CRITICAL THINKING EXERCISE 1 Please read and consider the following clinical examples. What is your reaction to each example? How would you handle the situation if you were a part of the conversation or overheard either conversation?

• Situation 1: You receive report on a new admission who is coming in with pancreatitis. During report,
you are told that the woman’s primary language is Spanish. After you share this information with the admitting physician, the physician states, “Oh, great! I sure hope she has somebody with her who can speak English. You KNOW what a pain it is to set up and use the translator system. What am I saying?! She is sure to have SOMEONE with her who speaks English. Those people ALWAYS come in packs.”

Situation 2: You are at the nurses’ station and overhear the following conversation: Person 1: “I need to know which patient is going home so that I can write discharge orders.” Person 2: “The Indian family.” Person 1 (laughing): “Indian how? Red dot or red feather?”