Daughter barred from visiting during an outbreak
- Kind
- Role-play
Prompt
You are the director of a long-term care home. A respiratory virus has made 12 of your 80 residents sick, and two have been taken to the hospital. On the advice of public health officials, you have stopped all visits for at least four weeks. The interviewer will play Dana, whose 88-year-old father lives in the home and has dementia. For three years, Dana has visited every day and helped him eat lunch, the only meal he finishes. Staff tell you he has eaten very little since the visits stopped a week ago. Dana has come to the front desk and is demanding to be let in. Speak with her.
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How to approach this question
What this question tests
- Communication
- Empathy and compassion
- Ethical reasoning
How to approach it
This MMI station is a role-play that tests whether you can hold a firm outbreak safety rule while showing real compassion to a daughter watching her father decline. Begin by listening and acknowledging Dana's distress and the role she has played in his care for three years. Explain the visiting restriction clearly and why it protects every resident, without hiding behind policy. Explore ways to help her father now, such as staff assisting at lunch or video calls, and ask what she knows that might help him eat. Stay calm, warm and clear throughout. When a follow-up raises fairness to other families, consider whether an exception could be applied consistently, and how you'd explain your decision openly to everyone.
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