Title: Discussion 7
Course: HCP 0796 Patient Care Technician > Section: Module 5

Professionalism and Your Personal Life

Read Chapter 4 in your text and answer the following scenarios.

1.  You have been attempting to get more exercise into your daily routine to improve your health per your doctor's recommendation.  The only free time you have to jog on a regular basis is during your lunch break.  Your break is long enough to get some really great exercise in, but you don't have time to take a shower before you go back to work.  What are your options that do not include removing exercise from your daily routine but yet allow professionalism?

2.  You and a group of coworkers decide to start meeting at Phish Heads on Thursday nights to unwind after your busy work week.  Since you all routinely have Friday off, this was the best day for everyone.  On the very first night, one person in your group has one too many drinks and ends up in a verbal altercation with another patron at Phish Heads.  You overhear the bartender calling the police since there is not security available to keep the incident from escalating.  How would you react and why?

3.  It seems as though there are never enough hours in the day to get everything done.  You work full time as you are the only financial support for your family, you are in school part-time with clinicals as well, you have to take your children to their sporting events and practices, and belong to three different community organizations in which you get your volunteer hours to boost your application's appeal for the nursing program.  Last week you were late to work twice, called in sick the day your son's school was closed because of the weather, and had to cancel a dentist appointment at the last minute.  You know that your job is the only way that your family survives and it is important, but so are your family and your schooling.  How you can better manage your time to ensure that everything is covered professionally and personally?

4.  You just received a pay raise which gives you an extra $25 in every paycheck.  When you get home and check your mail you realize that you have qualified for a new credit card you applied for that has 0% interest for 18 months and a $5,000 credit limit.  With the extra monies that have come available to you can buy that new desktop computer and television that your children have been begging for.   What are you going to do and why?

5.  Your job is a 20 minute drive from your home and your car has become not so reliable in the past few months.  It has 150,000 miles on it and is in need of several repairs.  Through payroll deductions, you have saved enough money for a year's worth of car insurance and a down payment on a newer vehicle.  The catch is that you are not sure that you can depend on your job to provide enough hours consistently to ensure you can make another monthly payment.  What will you do?  What are your options?