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Role Play Scenario 32
Whilst on a student night out in your first semester of university, you witness another student, Hugh, drunkenly prank call a patient who they are supposed to interview for an assignment. They laugh about this, sure that the patient hasn’t recognised their voice.
In this role play, you may speak to Hugh at the student night out.
Excellent Student Approach
1. Introduction
2. Open Questions
3. Develop Rapport
4. Address the issues known
5. Identify any additional issues
6. Summary and plan going forward
1 - You should bear in mind that you are on a student night out in this scenario. You may wish not to engage with the issue fully until a better time. Therefore, just quickly introduce yourself as another student from the course.
2 - Say that you don’t think they should be calling a patient. Let them know you wish to speak to them about it tomorrow.
3 - Be polite and consider tailoring your tone and manner to the time that you are speaking to them.
4 - The next day, explain that you were very concerned to see them drunkenly call a patient as a joke. Explain that you think it unprofessional, and that if the patient realises who the caller was they may be very angry and upset. Ask if the student has reflected on this. If they are apologetic and embarrassed, simply ask what their thought process was, and how you can be sure something like this won’t happen again. If they still treat it as a joke, explain that this behaviour is inappropriate and warrants university involvement.
5 - The extremely young age of the student and the involvement of alcohol make this issue somewhat more complicated. It could well be a mistake that will never be repeated - as such you may wish to not report it to the university if the content of the call was innocent and the student is apologetic.
6 - This is a difficult decision, and you must judge whether they are likely to continue this behaviour. If it seems they are, or if what was said in the prank call was in any way offensive, you must report this to university staff. If not, you could feasibly choose not report the student - but if so you should consult a staff member, such as your personal tutor, for a second opinion. As a young student in a confusing situation, asking for help is always a good start.