Real-Life Decision Making -- Solution
You decide to send the letter in special cases only.
You give the matter a lot of thought. You think of all the pros and cons.
You know that sending the letter in every case will take some time. "But I
have time," you think. "Perhaps I work faster than Mary."
Still, Mary told you to send the form letters only when the physician's
discharge note made you wonder if something was missing. You don't remember
Mary's reason. You think to yourself, "Mary had many years of experience,
and I am new to this work." You think that Mary probably had a good reason
for what she told you. Maybe someday you will understand her reasons. You
decide to do things the way Mary told you. You will send the form letter only
in special cases when you think something needs confirmation from a doctor.
Time passes. You do your best to learn as much as you can about the different
types of cancer and the treatments usually given for each type. You send the
letter to physicians when you think there is missing information in their
notes. Sometimes perhaps you make mistakes and send the letter when you didn't
need to.
In time, your skill increases and you become more confident. You also come
to understand that sending letters routinely would have used a lot of time
and resources and would have annoyed the physicians. "I'm glad I decided to
wait until I had more experience before I made any changes," you think to
yourself.
"You must understand the treatments given for different types of cancer,"
says Linda Mulvihill. She's with the National Cancer Registrar's
Association. "You learn this from discussions of the patients. You learn from
reading hundreds of charts. You read. You learn from your continuing education.
"