Discussion Forum

Go to the discussion forum and post your comments to the scenario there. It is based on a true story, and when everyone has posted their comments, your instructor will share what happened in both situations.

In order to receive full credit for participating in the discussion forum you will need to not only post your response but also respond to one other person's response.

Begin by reading the graphic novel. To turn the pages, click on the corners.

Open Maternity Mishap Graphic Novel.

For the visually impaired, read the scenario here:

Scenario: Sally is a first year nurse working at a local hospital in the maternity ward. The maternity ward has a strict rule that only the immediate family (this would include the father, siblings, and grandparents) are allowed to visit the mother in the hospital. With such short stays in the hospital, the hospital administration feels it is better to keep visitors to a minimum.

Sally had only worked with white and African-American families and had no training on Hispanic culture. One evening, Sally was on duty when a Hispanic woman gave birth to a baby boy. The husband and both sets of grandparents were present. Within eight hours, a group of over 40 people were in the maternity ward waiting room celebrating and asking to visit the mother and child. Sally felt she had to enforce the rules. She informed the visitors that they would not be allowed to visit the mother in her room. Everyone was very disappointed and several people tried to argue with Sally.

Within a hour, Sally was surprised to see the father of the child pushing the mother and baby in a wheelchair to the waiting room. Again, she felt this was not good for the mother and asked the family to return to the mother's room. This time the family ignored Sally and needless to say things "got ugly". Sally called hospital security and all the visitors were escorted from the hospital.

As you can imagine....the family later called the hospital patient advocate and complained. They accused Sally of being racist towards Hispanics. Sally, on the other hand, felt she was just doing her job.

Questions:

1. What are the cultural issues in this scenario?
2. Did Sally act appropriately?
3. What might she have done differently?
4. What would happen if this story took place in Los Angeles or Phoenix rather than Dayton, Ohio?