She sang

"It ain't over until the fat lady sings." --Ralph Carpenter

Finally, I got the call. I'll never forget the date: the only job offer in my career that happened in January.

Let the adventures begin.

On call oldie but goodie

FYI I have never taken call. It's not a common thing in rehab (especially in our neck of the woods), but I was intrigued by this article because of the some the recent arguments amongst our medical staff.

I discussed this with Dahey, since his dad was a physician a long time ago. He liked to go on rounds with him (in those halcyon days before HIPAA) and he always said Dahey should be the pediatrician.

However, I often wonder what my father-in-law would think of today's environment for physicians. It's a completely different world out there.

Stay tuned!

Another classic

This reminds me of the warning when I was in school abroad in college: make sure you understand the doctor's instructions on how to take your medicine. They tend to give lots of suppositories.

Weekend Call by Doc Grumpy sure reminded me of that.

That is all. Enjoy!

I thought it was a crank call

I got a call recently that I almost blew off.

By mistake, our switchboard operator sent me a call meant for the lady next door. Our patient, Mr. Z. raved and raved about her. She was just the best and gave me her card, but I lost it, he said, so they transferred me to you.

I tried to get out that I was not the person he was looking for, but Mr. Z. said, "That's okay. If you can help me later by telling her, I'm fine."

So I listened.

Mr. Z. had been a patient in the last year and really enjoyed his stay. He was in the building next door. They offered him stuff to take home, but he declined saying, "Oh, I don't really need it. I'd rather help someone else." During the call, Mr. Z said, "I'm dying of cancer. I'm in hospice. I'd just like that lady to send me one of those recreation kits I told her I didn't want when I was there."

I verified his story. It was all true. I was mortified that I thought this guy was a prankster. I promised Mr. Z. I'd take care of what he needed and call her myself. She wasn't there, so I sent a quick e-mail.

She replied. The kits went out in the mail today and she called to let him know. One phone call leads to one e-mail to one package in the mail.

One last request and I could have blown it, but I got a reprieve, and in a crazy chain of events, I helped make a dying man's dream come true.

Wow...

I think I'll call...

Grumpy made me think of a phrase we hear often at the Hotel. Amongst the rabble, er, employees at the Hotel, we say it in jest. However, the patients take it seriously.

"I'm going to call my Congressman(woman or Senator)!"

While I was doing a follow-up call with one of our folks, he/she was really close to uttering that famous line. I was fortunate that I was able to resolve the problem thanks to one of my office pals.

What happened to a consult for an AFO that was submitted electronically? It went everywhere internally it could go. Things got messed up when it went to the vendor on paper (who'll actually make this one). Somehow the paperwork from the vendor never ended up where it should have.

That's not all...when  Patient X called right around Christmas to see what happened with his/her paperwork, someone (of course they don't have a name) told Patient X, "Well, you know, I'm sorry. We've been busy since So and So retired." Customer service? I don't think so.

Pal enlightened me. "Nobody retired over here, RehabRN. Don't worry, Mike, the assistant chief will call Patient X."

And he did. And Patient X was happy. And so was the Congressman/woman and the Senator.

Sunday vegetating

The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.~ Bertrand Russell

Sometimes I just have to remember Bubba is growing up. He makes me laugh so much. He really is becoming a tween before my very eyes.

We plan on having lots of fun jumping in piles of leaves and doing nothing today with Dahey.

I need a little break after a marathon conference call  with my classmates yesterday.

Stay tuned...

Ever have a Monday? I did.

My Monday:

1. Get up, drive Bubba to camp, have gas light come on.
2. Drop Bubba off at camp, go to gas station.
3. Get blocked in by monster truck (luckily monster left before I was ready to go.)
4. Get behind every slow idiot who does not understand the difference between a yield sign and a merge sign. For some reason this is a HUGE problem here in RehabLand.
Remember kids, yield is red (may need to stop), merge is yellow (go slow, don't stop dead)...
5. Go to work and find out you need to sign more useless papers. (Don't sign them because they are as useless as the last ones.)
6. Find out that the scheduled opening of the patient unit really isn't  as scheduled. This means your programs have to find a new home until it is open.
7. Spend a good chunk of the morning doing admin work on room arrangements, etc. Secretaries don't do that...that would be WORK (a 4 letter word)!
8. Finally get all the details done, e-mails sent, arranged, rearranged and technical details scheduled. How much of this really required an RN?
If you guessed absolute zero, you are correct.
9.  Meanwhile, secretary is still attached to desk phone whispering each time I pass the printer. Would love to audit her phone log! (Which would require an Act of Congress). If I had a dollar for every minute she wastes, every copier she leaves run out of paper, ink, toner, etc. (and every single one is no more than 20 feet from her desk)...
10. Eat lunch, attend a conference call.
11. Get a call that Bubba is sick. Dahey to do pickup duty.
12. Get on conference call that starts, stops and sputters. Give up when I can't hear a thing.
13. Finally get everything done and go home.
14. Start to wind down and relax...and another telemarketer calls.
15. Thank goodness for online complaint submissions!

Does this tell you something?

The fact the Manglement insisted on having a conference call about winter weather was not unusual.

The fact that the main agenda item was what it means to show up for "regularly scheduled work hours" is a whole, 'nother ballgame.

I guess if we did not have so many people call out during winter weather, the PHBs would not have to get all excited over everything.

Decompress

Ah, it's so nice to be done for the weekend...and able to look forward to a week in which I don't have to go to work.

There have been a few surprises. The trainwreck elderly patient I ended up with on my assignment really wasn't bad at all. For a man of few words (can't speak due to a trach issue), he's pretty funny. Lots of flailing gestures and an animated face make it pretty interesting.

My other patient was grounded, too, due to some other health issues, but surprisingly, I found stuff to keep him busy and he was relaxed and happy. I was worried he was going to get wigged out about staying in bed.

Most of the people I work with were pretty good, too. We have a lot of new people floating around the unit, so maybe people were just on their best behavior. The Slug, of course, was not. He/she literally tied up every phone at the nurses' station (with personal calls) and even the boss thought it was funny. It just goes to show you what leadership (or lack thereof) we have. Someone else will have to fight that fight...I just don't care. Put me as far away from that phone as possible, so I don't have to answer it!

We got some new toys on the unit--lifts, stretchers and a new computer. I didn't have anyone to heave around or take anywhere, so I played with the computer. I like working with new stuff, even if some of my collegues recoil around anything new. I'd rather just play with it when things are slow and figure out how it works. We had another department come around with new snappy accessories for the computers, so we had fun with those.

While they won't be doing what they do in Europe, we will be getting tested for MRSA in the nares one of these days. One of my coworkers asked to have her MRSA scheduled for when her kids are out of school if she would have to stay home. Me, too! It would be the only way I'll ever get the summer off without having to go back to school to become a teacher.

Speaking of school, it will keep me busy this weekend. I have to work on several projects and write a paper for my class. When I get done with that, I'll be tackling the house the rest of the week. It should be fun.

More to come...stay tuned!

Did they really say that?

NP's Place had a Change of Shift theme called, "Oh, no you didn't" recently. Maybe I should call this one, "Oh no you didn't really say that!" about this type of incident in my world.

Nurse minding her own business gets a call from department to which nurse has sent patient for procedure.

Call 1
RN Department X: "Hi, this is So-and-So from Department X. Are you taking care of Mr. C?"
Me: "Yes, I am."
RN Department X: "Well, I just wanted to let you know that around xx time Mr. C. coded as we were starting our procedure."
Me: "What?"

RN from Department X proceeds to tell me about all the labs drawn, etc. So, just for grins, I ask a couple of questions.

Me: "Did you call Dr. Y. to let him/her know what's going on?"
RN Department X: "No."
Me: "Okay, what will happen now?"
RN Department X: "We'll just send Mr. C. back."
Me: "Thank you." (hangs up phone and immediately calls Dr. Y.)

Call 2
Me: "Dr. Y, did you know about Mr. C. coding."
Dr. Y.: "No."
Me: I fill in details on phone and point to note in computer. Dr. Y. affirms finding note about incident.
Me: "I just wanted to inform you re: this incident."
Dr. Y.: "Thanks."