Ethics in Health Care - "Nurse Sassy"

This lesson introduces the qualities of a health care worker.

A lesson plan for grades 6–12

By L. Flowers

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Learning outcomes

Students will the learn the importance of:

• professional appearance.
• dependability.
• honesty.
• good attitude.
• confidentiality.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

90.00 minutes

Materials/resources

• Telephone (disconnected, non-working)
• White shorts, loud shirt, high heels, colored underwear, black or colored pantyhose, dangly earrings, heavy necklace, big rings, bracelets
• Bubble-gum
• Heavy make-up and bright fingernail polish
• Long hair wig (optional)
• Clipboard with paper and pen
• Sphygmomanometer (blood pressure cuff), stethoscope, thermometer
• 2 “partners in crime” (2 really good friends)

Technology resources

None

Pre-activities

Discuss with students the meaning of vocabulary words: ethics, morals, confidentiality, attitude, professionalism.

Have them tell you what they feel are qualities of a health care worker and list them on the board.

Activities

1. Before class, draw a sign-in sheet on board.
2. Teacher dresses in clothes and jewelry listed above and begins chewing gum.
3. First “partner in crime” enters the classroom at the beginning of class and explains to students that a nurse will be visiting class today and the teacher will be late. Students may talk quietly.
4. One minute later, he/she will receive a fake phone call from the nurse. He/she will have angry conversation and then hang up and sign nurse in on the board.
5. After 1-2 minutes, second “partner in crime” enters, acting as the supervisor, and demands to know where the nurse is. He/she walks to the board and points out that the nurse has signed in and should be on duty. First “partner in crime” makes excuses. For example, she is in bathroom, had to go to pharmacy, etc. The supervisor leaves acting suspicious and wanting to see the nurse as soon as she appears.
6. 1-2 minutes later, the nurse rushes in with a clipboard and bag containing sphygmomanometer (blood pressure cuff), stethoscope, and thermometer. She and the first “partner in crime” argue about her being late and almost getting caught by the supervisor.
7. First “partner in crime” leaves.
8. Students will be patients. “Nurse Sassy” does everything wrong taking vital signs. She blows bubbles in the patient’s face while trying to talk to him/her. She takes a phone call from a friend and ignores her patients while on the phone. While talking, she paints her fingernails with red polish and tells her friend about a patient being HIV positive, using his name, and will let it slip that Will Smith is in the hospital for a drug overdose, so she heard. Nurse will be sassy and talk harshly to her patients when they complain about her being on the phone so long, etc. (Freely add other ideas to this skit.)

Assessment

Students will be asked to write down a list of everything they saw being done wrong. If teacher is nurse, this would be a good time to change clothes. The class will then discuss their findings.

Supplemental information

I have used this skit in my classroom with each class. The students had fun and still remember the “do’s and don’t’s” regarding the responsibilities of a health care worker.

Related websites

Code of Ethics Online
http://www.iit.edu/departments/csep/PublicWWW/codes/index.html

Comments

Teacher may also use a flip chart at the end of the skit with the headings dependability, honesty, grooming, attitude, and follow the rules and list what they observed under each heading and the consequences of each wrong action by “Nurse Sassy.”