Best laid plans

Oh, it wasn't Monday, it was the day after a holiday and I could tell. People who were gone all week this week are buried on their return to the Hotel. (Yes, vacation is nice, and so is having that extra day until you return).

I hoped to get one of our patients set up for a clinic visit. I was greeted by the gentleman who waters the plants in my temporary home. "Don't get him upset" was what one of my coworkers said.

It's nice to know the volunteers rate higher than the actual employees here. Did I want to be in "his space"? No. Do I work here? Yes. Do I rate higher as an employee trying to do my job in a temporary location? I should! I take care of ALL my assigned patients, not just the plant guy.

Unfortunately, I'm not the only refugee in the building. Our boss has decided to move one of my cohorts, too. He/she is not happy.

To top off my day, I was working with a patient and found out he got his new stuff from the Hotel to work with us. He just needed to download one little thing. We also found out (in doing our test) that the one little thing was discontinued...on Labor Day. Ugh! Glad he can use his adaptive equipment in other ways, just not for what we intended.

Time to go to Plan B....stay tuned.

Hair on fire?

Some days I really think the reactionary Manglement around here enjoy causing people to run around the Hotel as if their hair were really on fire.

Situation 1:
Really? You just figured out that clinics won't see enough people when 1) most of your patients are over 55 and 2) the weather is totally crappy (ice, snow and below zero)?

Captain Obvious, where are you? Obviously not in the Manglement offices.

Situation 2:
And since we've opened a specialty care unit at the Hotel, it's been even better. First, we had the unit all done. Then, there was an emergency in another area of the hospital, so that unit was reallocated to a clinic--for a year and a half. Next, there was a flood in another area (for outpatients, not rehabbers), so we got bounced again.

Hotel Specialty Care wing finally opened recently. They are still figuring out some of the staffing (luckily not nursing). WT..? Another Manglement fumble.

I'm bucking the trend. I'm staying calm for the heck of it.

It's the one thing I can control.

More to come...

Yes, it's coming!

Whatever you want to call this month's full moon, it's here.I should have known it when I got to work and my day started off smoothly.

The rest of it, got wild and crazy.

First, I got a lot of strange requests, and those were just from the people who came to my door. We had orientation in our conference room, so we always have those lost souls looking for the conference room.

Next, our doc had his clinic in the SU. One of his characters, after a procedure, decided to sit outside my office and say, "I don't feel so hot. Can you get me some candy?" He thought his blood sugar was low so one of the nurses took his blood sugar, then another got him candy. He bounced up, and our clinic RN checked him out.

Why didn't I do this? I was managing a few other fires:

1. A meeting for one of our patients was abruptly cancelled when one of the interdisciplinary team members didn't show up for work. No one knew until the last minute. It's always a joy rearranging schedules for people eight hours driving distance from you who won't answer phone or e-mail messages before you leave.

2. Another patient thought he had an appointment, while our sugar guy lounged on the chairs in the lobby. Nope, I told the therapist, I'll have to talk to him later.

3. Finally, a few minutes later, when I thought all was finally quieted down, I had to take a family over to another unit, because they were picking up a discharged family member. They had just driven in from far away and their relative was wondering if they ditched him because they ended up in our end of the Hotel, instead of his.

All went well after that. One of the nurses I know from one of our other clinics came to see me. We had a nice chat and I showed her all the stuff. She enjoyed it.

I was so happy to leave. Now I just have to wait for the full moon to be over...more to come!

Welcome to Monday

Here comes the week.

I feel like I've caught the dreaded summer cold. On top of all of it, I had a busy day all day, inspections, and I had patients in two clinics to take care of.

Tomorrow is only one clinic, so we'll ride it out and see how it goes.

If I feel crappy, I'm leaving early.

Stay tuned...

Ah, snow!

It's coming. From the way the weather folks at the local RehabLand television stations put it, we're looking at potential snowmaggedon.

This is always fun at the Hotel. Patients don't come in for our outpatient clinics, and they miss tests. Inpatients get grumpy when their relatives can't come into visit. Thankfully, the grounds of the Hotel are cleaner than any roads in the area.

Nursing staff loves snow because it usually means you get to work overtime, since some of your coworkers never ever make it to work.

We do have something to look forward to...none of this should last. The temperatures will be above freezing by the weekend.

And the snow will go, go, go...stay tuned.

Another week in RehabLand...

And what a week it was! Lots of ups and downs, happiness and sadness. I got what I asked Santa for already: equipment and the start for a new clinic. And I got four pounds of espresso! Ho ho ho! I can't wait until clinic starts in the New Year.

At Madison, one of our doctors celebrated ten years at the Hotel. We finally got a new doctor to replace our last one who retired recently. Then our boss announced that he/she is taking a new job in a month, four hours away.

One of our staff complained of chest pains and got a cancer diagnosis instead once he/she was hospitalized.

School is on hold, I'm awaiting sentencing, as one of my old professors used to say. (Actually, he said waiting for the plea bargains....really miss that sense of humor.)

In a way, I feel the same. I'd like to plead for my sanity, but I'm just going to relax and see what happens.

More to come...

Mutiny

That's the way it's getting to be in the Hotel. I thank my lucky stars I'm not on the floor anymore. It's just too ugly. I don't think I could stand it. The insolence some days is so thick, it's as if a fog has rolled inside. Add to that some crazy allied health people who are in trouble with HR and it's even more exciting.

The SU's been plenty busy. We're getting clinics up and running and upgrading equipment. I even get to share my spot with some very expensive equipment (haven't done that in ages!).

Spring is here again and soon, it will be very busy. Lots of people are antsy and wanting to go home.
We'll see how it goes...

More to come.