Reading Skills for Healthcare Workers

Pedro works in an assisted living facility. He spends most of his time at work helping the residents with their everyday activities, but sometimes he must answer the phone at the information desk. People call the facility where Pedro works for a variety of reasons.

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Some callers have general questions about moving into assisted living, or they want to schedule a tour. When Pedro answers a call like that, he transfers the caller to the community sales specialist on staff. If the community sales specialist is not available, Pedro takes a message. When Pedro takes a message for someone at work, he carefully listens to what the caller has to say, and he repeats the information back to the caller to make sure it is correct. He always writes the date and time on every message. He also signs his name in case the person who reads the message has any questions.

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Some callers ask for specific information about one of the residents living in the facility. When this happens, Pedro must be careful giving his answers. It is important that he protects the privacy of the residents. This means that he cannot give specific information about a person’s health or the care he or she is receiving unless he knows that the person calling has permission from the resident to request the information.

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The phone rings and Pedro answers the call. It is a man asking if a resident has been taking her medication. The man says he is the resident’s nephew. Pedro isn’t sure if the person on the phone has permission to receive information about the resident, and he wants to protect the resident’s privacy. He decides to take a message. He tells the caller that he will check with his supervisor later that afternoon and call him back. He carefully writes down the caller’s name and telephone number and the question the caller asked. Now he just has to remember to follow up with his supervisor.