This blog post is a writing assignment for MAST 1060: Medical Office Procedures, part of the Health Care Management (HC23) Associate of Applied Science Degree program at Southern Crescent Technical College.

“Scenario: You are the receptionist and have just opened the office and switched all calls from the answering service. Patients have been waiting at the door and now come into the office wanting to check in. Sheryl, a coworker, is trying to tell you about her weekend, but you do not have time to listen to her. How can you respond without hurting her feelings and be able to give your full attention to your job? Role-play the communication between the administrative medical assistant and the coworker” (French, 2019, Job Skill 4-13).

This scenario requires two people: Sheryl, a coworker, and Amy, the receptionist. The office opens, several patients are already waiting to check in, and the phone might ring. Amy was friendly and greeted her coworkers before opening the front door. She knew she would have work to do as soon as she opened the door.

Sheryl, a nurse, approaches Amy at the front desk. She is outgoing and talkative, excited, and wants to talk about her weekend. Sheryl’s friendliness can get distracting at times. Amy cannot follow her story and care for the patients too. Amy smiles and politely addresses Sheryl by her first name. Sheryl believes using “Nurse” as a title before her name sounds stuffy, impersonal, and outdated. Amy says, “Sheryl, I am glad you had such a great weekend. We just opened the office, and I am helping patients. Could you please tell me about it over break instead? I can give you my full attention then.” Sheryl said, “Oh! Yes, I can do that. I am sorry. I was just a little excited because it was so great! I can’t wait to tell you about it!” Amy smiled and said, “I understand, and it does sound exciting. Thank you.”

Amy loves and takes pride in her job and helping patients. A medical assistant, Cindy, also works at the desk with her and can help with the initial morning traffic, but Amy does not want her to bear most of the work while she merely chats with Sheryl. That would not be fair to Cindy. The patients might also feel she cares more about socializing than their check-in process. Amy wants to work with Cindy as a team to assist the patients faster and more efficiently (French, 2019, 4-4b, Procedure 4-11, Job Skill 4-13).

References

French, L. L. (2018). Administrative Medical Assisting. (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.

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