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Jesica Santillon Case Summary

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The case of Jesica Santillon is a tragic situation where a miscommunication ended up costing a patient her life. After she underwent a heart and lung transplant then it was discovered she had received organs with a blood type which did not match her own. The surgery took place at one of the top medical centers in our nation but without communication between administrators and providers to verify blood type this mistake happened. The family could not speak English and did not understand the medical terminology even with an interrupter they thought the hospital wanted to get rid of their daughter because she was a problem.

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Case Study Jesica Santillon

...Case Study 2-The Case of Jesica Santillon Effective communication requires messages to be conveyed clearly to the appropriate parties, but along the way there are many communication barriers that can create misunderstandings and misinterpretations of the intended message (Burns, Bradley & Weiner, 2012).   Such misunderstandings and misinterpretations are apparent in the case of Jesica Santillon. This case study will identify the social and cultural barriers that may have made it difficult for the doctors to communicate with Jesica’s family. This case study will also offer recommendations to modify the transplant process to ensure that misunderstandings are eliminated or minimized; and lastly it will propose some general communication strategies to manage communication with each group involved in this tragic case. Social and Cultural Barriers to Communication There may have been many communication barriers that hindered the doctors from effectively communicating with Jesica’s family. The language differences may have been a leading obstacle to effective communication between the physicians and the family. The family recently migrated to the United States seeking treatment for Jesica's condition and were not fluent in the English language. Immigrants that lack English skills and familiarity with diagnostic techniques and treatments used in the United States are less likely to receive the care and medical information they need (Freeman, 2013). Health literacy may have...

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