Scenario #1
A young man with a moderate cognitive disability came to the doctor’s office. You are the office nurse. When you call the man for his appointment, he does not respond. You call his name again, and the man gets up from his chair–you tell him to follow you. You direct the man to the scale to get his weight. Another staff member says to you, loud enough for the man to hear, “Oh I needed to deal with him a few weeks ago–he just doesn’t understand anything. I ended up
just estimating his weight because he didn’t understand what I told him to do. A lot of retards are like that.”
Scenario #2
A woman in her 90s is at the dentist office. She tells the dentist that she has a bad toothache.The dentist examines the women and takes some x-rays. The dentist determines that the woman has a cracked tooth. The doctor tells the women that she needs to have the tooth extracted. When he leaves the woman he tells you that she really did not need the extraction, but she is old and will believe him. He adds, “we get more money for an extraction and what does she need teeth for anyway–she ancient.”
Scenario #3
A woman with a learning disability is at your office. The woman is unable to read the instructions
of a form she is given to fill out. The office manager tells the woman that she should just sign
the form without reading it.
Questions
1.
What type of abuse is there in each scenario? Explain your answer in detail.
2.
How could the situation be handled differently?
3.
What legal ramifications might there be for each scenario?