Mr. Kirby Case Study

Overview

The case study was about Mr. Kirby, a seventy-two year old widow male with type 2 diabetes who wife died a couple of months ago, and has been living by himself. He has become dependent, and struggles with his self-caring needs. He had a stroke and it resulted in a left-sided weakness. He fell a couple of months ago and fractured his arm bone, which was repaired and he was discharged home. Two weeks later, he was not coping well at home and was admitted to an acute hospital because of heart failure and poor mobility. He was recommended for rehabilitation due to his inability to become motivated and lack of interest in doing everyday tasks for himself.

Communication Patterns

Communication throughout the case study was sometimes clear and positive, and other times unclear and negative. In Part one (in the Acute Hospital), communication between the ward nurse and the junior nurse at the community hospital was unclear. The transfer for Mr. Kirby was not

The role of the social worker entailed finding out if Mr. Kirby would have family support before he is discharged, and to find resources to assist Mr. Kirby with all his needs along with getting the family extra support as caregivers. Working with the patient/family, the social worker was professional and nonjudgmental. She also exhibited compassion and empathy. She took responsibility in not releasing Mr. Kirby due to a high risk of him falling again. Although I feel she did a good job, she could have been more resourceful in catering to Mr. Kirby needs such as, making sure professionals he was receiving resources from were staying on top of their jobs. Furthermore, I feel she could have tried harder to find extra care to provide the family with more support, and she could have found insurance such as Medicare to help Mr. Kirby and his family afford extra care. She stated what was available to help Mr. Kirby, but never put anything in