Sometimes I hold my tongue, not to embarrass you, but to keep from getting prosecuted.
First of all, I eat "quickly" because while you're regaling the bosses at our business lunch and one-upping everyone with your stories, I'm eating. Plain and simple. You might just catch up if you stopped talking.
Second, it would also help if you actually left the table when your phone rings. Have your phone ring six times while we were eating is not acceptable. It shows that you really cannot be present with our boss (who has better reasons to answer his/her phone) and actually listen.
Constructive criticism is helpful if you choose to learn from it.
Quietly yours,
RehabRN
Showing posts with label phone. Show all posts
Showing posts with label phone. Show all posts
Saturday, June 4, 2016
Thursday, March 6, 2014
I need a t-shirt that says
"I survived jury duty". I did. I did. I did.
What did I miss in the years I did not get called and picked to serve on a jury? Not much.
A few things I learned though, were very important.
1. Don't let your lawyer clown it up on the opening arguments. He/she should be reasonable and convincing, but bouncing binders in front of the jury to get their attention is not the way to do that. It gave me a headache.
2. Tell the truth. Or at least be expected to use the same story over and over. You know that oath "thingy"? Yes, it applies to you.
3. Related to #2, never swear that you never use the phone. There are records.
4. Don't hire one of your own employees to serve as your "expert witness". It is a little thing called conflict of interest for him/her to participate.
5. Don't repeatedly say your client knows nothing about business, because he/she has been at it for a few years...like 40. Despite everything, the business is solvent, so who's at the wheel?
6. Always be explicit. Some folks, for whom English is a second language, may not understand things that are implied, especially in e-mails.
7. Don't use easels to display e-mail quotes that you've circulated ad nauseum in the courtroom. I got tired of looking at your not-so-hot quotes on foam board.
And finally, one of the most important things I learned from jury duty:
Take every moment you can to enjoy a moment outside in the sunshine. You will never get enough of those. Criminals and crazy relatives tend to stick around, but sunshine doesn't, so enjoy it while you can.
More to come...
What did I miss in the years I did not get called and picked to serve on a jury? Not much.
A few things I learned though, were very important.
1. Don't let your lawyer clown it up on the opening arguments. He/she should be reasonable and convincing, but bouncing binders in front of the jury to get their attention is not the way to do that. It gave me a headache.
2. Tell the truth. Or at least be expected to use the same story over and over. You know that oath "thingy"? Yes, it applies to you.
3. Related to #2, never swear that you never use the phone. There are records.
4. Don't hire one of your own employees to serve as your "expert witness". It is a little thing called conflict of interest for him/her to participate.
5. Don't repeatedly say your client knows nothing about business, because he/she has been at it for a few years...like 40. Despite everything, the business is solvent, so who's at the wheel?
6. Always be explicit. Some folks, for whom English is a second language, may not understand things that are implied, especially in e-mails.
7. Don't use easels to display e-mail quotes that you've circulated ad nauseum in the courtroom. I got tired of looking at your not-so-hot quotes on foam board.
And finally, one of the most important things I learned from jury duty:
Take every moment you can to enjoy a moment outside in the sunshine. You will never get enough of those. Criminals and crazy relatives tend to stick around, but sunshine doesn't, so enjoy it while you can.
More to come...
Thursday, November 29, 2012
A topper
I really did think when I called my friend N. on the Left Coast, that I really did have a story that could top anything that happened to her.
N. is a manager of a Borg Pharmaceutical vendor, who will remain nameless.
My day was fine and dandy until Mr. and Mrs. Lost came to my door. I figured it was a simple, direct-them-to-the-SU kind of thing that normally happens. Nope.
Mr. Lost told me that he was going to kill someone. (Ding, ding, ding -- alarm bells) To top it off, he had a plan.
Hello...there went my beautiful boring morning. Calm Mr. and Mrs. Lost down and call the psych people.
No one is answering their phone. (Maybe that lunar eclipse thing messed them up?) So I went looking for the mental health staffers on our team. After much searching, I found one.
Mr. Lost stayed in my office while J., our mental health staffer, called the "Heightened state" team. Chief says, "Send Mr. Lost to the ER for evaluation."
Surprisingly, Mr. Lost was okay with that. J. stayed with him until the ambulance came. Mrs. Lost went home to collect some things and call Mr. Lost's daughter.
And so, J. had a teaching moment with the student today.
I'm so glad I got to be the lucky person...stay tuned for more.
N. is a manager of a Borg Pharmaceutical vendor, who will remain nameless.
My day was fine and dandy until Mr. and Mrs. Lost came to my door. I figured it was a simple, direct-them-to-the-SU kind of thing that normally happens. Nope.
Mr. Lost told me that he was going to kill someone. (Ding, ding, ding -- alarm bells) To top it off, he had a plan.
Hello...there went my beautiful boring morning. Calm Mr. and Mrs. Lost down and call the psych people.
No one is answering their phone. (Maybe that lunar eclipse thing messed them up?) So I went looking for the mental health staffers on our team. After much searching, I found one.
Mr. Lost stayed in my office while J., our mental health staffer, called the "Heightened state" team. Chief says, "Send Mr. Lost to the ER for evaluation."
Surprisingly, Mr. Lost was okay with that. J. stayed with him until the ambulance came. Mrs. Lost went home to collect some things and call Mr. Lost's daughter.
And so, J. had a teaching moment with the student today.
I'm so glad I got to be the lucky person...stay tuned for more.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Some people
Dear Specialist:
Please do not call me when I purposely put my status (out of office) on my e-mail, phone, voice mail, Office Communicator and the call list. I will not answer because I have your number in my phone.
Just because you think of something while you're on vacation with your kids on spring break is not an emergency for me. And while you're at it, please stop cc'ing the world on e-mails because it makes you feel better. All it does is drive the people listed (including me) crazy...and fills up our mailboxes.
Go have fun and stay out of our hair. It's our vacation, too (if you'd ever stop checking your e-mail and voice messages.)
Sincerely not,
RehabRN
Please do not call me when I purposely put my status (out of office) on my e-mail, phone, voice mail, Office Communicator and the call list. I will not answer because I have your number in my phone.
Just because you think of something while you're on vacation with your kids on spring break is not an emergency for me. And while you're at it, please stop cc'ing the world on e-mails because it makes you feel better. All it does is drive the people listed (including me) crazy...and fills up our mailboxes.
Go have fun and stay out of our hair. It's our vacation, too (if you'd ever stop checking your e-mail and voice messages.)
Sincerely not,
RehabRN
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
A great end of day
So when you can't reach the people you need to via phone, just send e-mail...again and again. That was part of my day today. We'll see tomorrow if anyone responds.
It was a beautiful day here, and I was so glad I could escape for a few minutes into the sunshine. The humidity has disappeared for the moment and the afternoon was glorious.
Reminds me of those lazy days in college reading my books under a sycamore tree as the wind blew by...ahh! This time was even better at a table with a good book and a coffee.
More fun tomorrow...stay tuned!
It was a beautiful day here, and I was so glad I could escape for a few minutes into the sunshine. The humidity has disappeared for the moment and the afternoon was glorious.
Reminds me of those lazy days in college reading my books under a sycamore tree as the wind blew by...ahh! This time was even better at a table with a good book and a coffee.
More fun tomorrow...stay tuned!
Friday, September 18, 2009
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!
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!
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Crazy, crazy day
I ran and ran again today, but at least, things were a little calmer than yesterday. Some people remembered that I helped them out a lot, so they helped me on a couple of things. It was nice. We had two call-ins, so the boss called one of our night people who was off and she came in pronto. I was happy because she took one of my assigned people, so I only had two patients and the med cart.
The Slug was in and she was slacking away as usual. She had to do one admission, but after that, when the boss left for his meeting, she took her 2 hour lunch while the rest of us scrambled to set up and/or feed our people who needed it. She does not get it that the time you take to run to X sandwich shop on your lunch hour is part of your lunch hour (which isn't really an hour--it's just 30 minutes).
Nope, she takes that time (anywhere from 15-30 minutes) and doesn't count it when she comes back and sits on her derriere. She started eating at 1215, and I ate my sandwich, and she didn't leave the lunch room until 1345. This did not include the time it took her to go get her lunch. This was just the time I observed. Management looks the other way.
Besides that, I just pray I work a shift that she doesn't because I get tired of these antics and all the "emergency" calls she gets. One of her callers actually sounded indignant today because I told him she was at lunch. "Well can't you just go get her?" "Well, no. I'm busy taking care of patients." I told him. (I was getting ready to give some meds and the secretary was at lunch. No one else was in sight.) I put the idiot on hold and I overhead paged her, even though I knew exactly where she was. I figured she needed the exercise to walk over to the phone, and I could go do something else.
I had my same two patients as yesterday. Mr. S. needed a new Foley (a special one at that--16 FR with 30cc balloon Coude) and I put it in as soon as it arrived on the unit. We change indwelling catheters once a month and then, per policy, we send a UA and C&S to the lab when we're done.
Mr. S. was supposed to get a loaner wheelchair so he could get up, but the PT couldn't get his configured right away because she was too busy. Mr. S. was very understanding, though. His neighbor, Mr. HIJ #1, who recently moved to this room since he got a special bed, was as demanding as ever, but I kept him relatively quiet. He wanted me to get him a soda, but he got distracted doing some crafts, so he didn't even worry about it.
I ran back and forth giving the meds on the last run, which at 1600 really isn't too bad. People were streaming in and out of the latest group meeting in our main gathering area, so I had to chase some of them. I got everything straightened up and passed on to C., who was taking my med cart. I got out of there as fast as my legs could carry me without running. P and I walked out the door as a camera crew was coming in to film a story. P. told me, "Stay here long enough and you'll be on TV, too! I've been on one show already. With those powder puffs, I felt like Oprah!"
Even though, it was gray and cloudy, it was good to escape. Off tomorrow and back to evenings on Thursday...stay tuned.
The Slug was in and she was slacking away as usual. She had to do one admission, but after that, when the boss left for his meeting, she took her 2 hour lunch while the rest of us scrambled to set up and/or feed our people who needed it. She does not get it that the time you take to run to X sandwich shop on your lunch hour is part of your lunch hour (which isn't really an hour--it's just 30 minutes).
Nope, she takes that time (anywhere from 15-30 minutes) and doesn't count it when she comes back and sits on her derriere. She started eating at 1215, and I ate my sandwich, and she didn't leave the lunch room until 1345. This did not include the time it took her to go get her lunch. This was just the time I observed. Management looks the other way.
Besides that, I just pray I work a shift that she doesn't because I get tired of these antics and all the "emergency" calls she gets. One of her callers actually sounded indignant today because I told him she was at lunch. "Well can't you just go get her?" "Well, no. I'm busy taking care of patients." I told him. (I was getting ready to give some meds and the secretary was at lunch. No one else was in sight.) I put the idiot on hold and I overhead paged her, even though I knew exactly where she was. I figured she needed the exercise to walk over to the phone, and I could go do something else.
I had my same two patients as yesterday. Mr. S. needed a new Foley (a special one at that--16 FR with 30cc balloon Coude) and I put it in as soon as it arrived on the unit. We change indwelling catheters once a month and then, per policy, we send a UA and C&S to the lab when we're done.
Mr. S. was supposed to get a loaner wheelchair so he could get up, but the PT couldn't get his configured right away because she was too busy. Mr. S. was very understanding, though. His neighbor, Mr. HIJ #1, who recently moved to this room since he got a special bed, was as demanding as ever, but I kept him relatively quiet. He wanted me to get him a soda, but he got distracted doing some crafts, so he didn't even worry about it.
I ran back and forth giving the meds on the last run, which at 1600 really isn't too bad. People were streaming in and out of the latest group meeting in our main gathering area, so I had to chase some of them. I got everything straightened up and passed on to C., who was taking my med cart. I got out of there as fast as my legs could carry me without running. P and I walked out the door as a camera crew was coming in to film a story. P. told me, "Stay here long enough and you'll be on TV, too! I've been on one show already. With those powder puffs, I felt like Oprah!"
Even though, it was gray and cloudy, it was good to escape. Off tomorrow and back to evenings on Thursday...stay tuned.
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