I had a patient walk in today (it wasn't my patient and I promise no identifying information, so back off HIPPA police!) who came in looking for her provider. This happens, on average, once or twice a week. Only, generally, they at least know who they are supposed to see. I can pull up the patient's info, but it will only show me their appointment if they are seeing a provider in our system, not outside of it. Most offices in the building are not affiliated with us. So, I go to pull up her provider for her and, when I ask her the doctor's name she states, "It is some Asian women.......maybe Chinese?" What I said was, "I'm sorry, but I can't look them up without their name." What I wanted to say was, "Oh, the asian woman doctor. Of course! We all know her. We do, after all, have to make our quota of one." It is kind of like when I say I went to UF (45-48,000 students when I attended) and people say something like, "Did you know Billy?" I usually just say, "Oh yeah, I remember him. He was a huge anti-Semite. You aren't friends with him are you?"
On to the more mundane, things are occurring as I suspected they would at work. The nurse who is out on the mysterious leave of absence has extended that leave through mid-June at the minimum. The likelihood is that she is not coming back at all. This whole situation is made worse because literally all her patients and the staff she shared space with know about it. And while she supposedly harbors no animosity towards our manager and towards the rest of the staff, her behavior is affecting us, not the people who made the decision to make this joint venture thing happen. This is compounded by the fact that my manager has been, in her words, working with this nurse to secure a position to stay within the organization. Why now would you want this person in your organization at all?
What it means for me personally is a whole lot more driving. As this clinic can, ostensibly, be run by the charge nurse while staying somewhat in the nougaty center of things, that clinic cannot. So, I am Gresham bound for much of the next few weeks. I don't mind it per se, insomuch as I don't mind any changes largely, but I hate above most things commuting. And this commute is a real bitch in the evenings. At least everyone seems appreciative of it. And, like it or not, it is part of the job.
Domestically, I am finding things harder and harder to manage. Between Tia and I working nearly full time schedules and Quinn, there seems to be less and less time to get things accomplished. I admit I am a bit OCD about things and they bother me more than they should. But, it irritates me to have a table half covered in bills and bibs. It irritates me when the bathroom isn't clean and there are bath toys all over the place. It irritates me that our yard is weed ridden and seemingly always on the verge of going full on wilderness on us. Ultimately though, I don't know what to do about it. By the time Tia and I get home from work and get Q to bed, it is generally after 7. Then, we need to eat something, which means at least perfunctory cooking and the accompanying clean up. Then the aftermath of Hurricane Quinn needs to be picked up. Once you get everything roughly done, you are staring at 830 and have the decision of what to do with your free hour..........get that bathroom cleaned up or veg out for awhile because you are exhausted. I admittedly almost always go with the latter.
Last but not least, bad news about my ongoing battle against allergies. My immune system's hyperactive immune response has won out. I knew I had a chance at failing the shots (about 25% fail them per the allergist), but I had held onto it as my last prevailing hope to staying functional in this climate. But, when I asked what my next step was, the doc pretty much just shrugged his shoulders (also, when he looked at my sclera, he winced because it was so red/inflamed.........and it did not feel particularly red or inflamed to me, showing me just how far from feeling normal I consider my 'normal' to be). My last gasp is to try taking an antihistamine vacation of sorts (claritin twice daily vs Zyrtec in the am and claritin pm) and then re-add Zyrtec and hope it recharges. I might start looking into other options (naturopathic?) as well, because I am kind of out of options as far as western medicine is concerned. On the upshot, my PFT (pulmonary function tests) were great. So, at least the whole breathing thing seems handily under control. Given a choice, I will take being able to breathe over clear eyes and nasal passages.
I better wrap this up. As I mentioned, too many other things to do. Ugh.
No comments:
Post a Comment