Final answer:
Option 2 demonstrates active listening by acknowledging the patient's frustration and taking action. Using problem-solution reasoning, the issues of long wait times and staff-to-student ratios can be addressed with practical solutions. The 82nd percentile in emergency room wait times indicates a longer-than-average wait, suggesting a need for process improvement.
Step-by-step explanation:
The appropriate response that exemplifies active listening from a medical assistant to a patient complaining about wait times is Option 2: "I understand that waiting can be frustrating. Let me check on the status of your appointment." This statement acknowledges the patient's concerns, demonstrates empathy, and offers a helpful action. Active listening involves not only hearing what the other person is saying but also understanding, validating their feelings, and responding thoughtfully.
Regarding the evidence presented for long wait times and the ratio of staff to students, using the problem-solution reasoning strategy would mean addressing each point with a corresponding solution. For instance, Kay Payne's 10-day wait period could be addressed by hiring more counselors or optimizing scheduling strategies to decrease wait times, directly responding to the students' mental health issues stated in the survey, and maintaining the staff-to-student ratio as per the International Accreditation of Counseling Services guidelines.
If the emergency room wait time was in the 82nd percentile, this means that 82 percent of patients experienced shorter wait times than 90 minutes, making it a suboptimal experience for the patient who waited this long. This statistic could prompt an investigation into why the wait times are longer than expected and explore strategies to improve patient flow and reduce wait times. The relevance of box plots in this context is they can be used as a visual tool to represent the distribution of wait times, including the median, range, and any potential outliers.