Yesterday was not the day to have a blackout...
I typically leave all my messages for the end of the day because trying to handle them in between clients is frustrating for all involved. So, when my Tuesday was cut short by loss of power and the consequent loss of all access to electronic charts and medication histories, I was unable to muddle through and had to 'close up shop' leaving all my work for today. I have to admit that at the time,I felt the glee of a child having a snow day.
Problem was.. yesterday was the full moon. This always means an extra dose of chaos in the life anyone working in the public arena, from retail to schools to mental health. Therefore, I had an extra dose of "med issues" on top of the typical refill requests and such. That glee I felt... gone. I spent my day trying to finagle refills in the brief moments between appointments. And do not get me started on prior authorization issues.
Its not that I am blowing my clients off or that I don't see their needs as urgent, but there are only so many hours in that day to dedicate to calling folks back. Sometimes, I have to put these things off till the next day. And I will call once - just once. If your voicemail isn't set up, I'm sorry, but that isn't my problem. I struggle to leave discreet but informative voice messages as we play phone tag.
I really yearn for email. So neat and tidy - just sitting in the inbox waiting for my reply. So efficient... but we are quite a ways away from that technology where I am at. So phone tag it is.
I typically leave all my messages for the end of the day because trying to handle them in between clients is frustrating for all involved. So, when my Tuesday was cut short by loss of power and the consequent loss of all access to electronic charts and medication histories, I was unable to muddle through and had to 'close up shop' leaving all my work for today. I have to admit that at the time,I felt the glee of a child having a snow day.
Problem was.. yesterday was the full moon. This always means an extra dose of chaos in the life anyone working in the public arena, from retail to schools to mental health. Therefore, I had an extra dose of "med issues" on top of the typical refill requests and such. That glee I felt... gone. I spent my day trying to finagle refills in the brief moments between appointments. And do not get me started on prior authorization issues.
Its not that I am blowing my clients off or that I don't see their needs as urgent, but there are only so many hours in that day to dedicate to calling folks back. Sometimes, I have to put these things off till the next day. And I will call once - just once. If your voicemail isn't set up, I'm sorry, but that isn't my problem. I struggle to leave discreet but informative voice messages as we play phone tag.
I really yearn for email. So neat and tidy - just sitting in the inbox waiting for my reply. So efficient... but we are quite a ways away from that technology where I am at. So phone tag it is.
I've mostly caught up for today and only stayed a half an hour or so after I was supposed to leave. Not too bad for a full moon.
As I sit and stare at a clipboard full of unanswered messages, I realize I could cut my appointments just a bit shorter and not frantically scramble at the end of the day. But, when sitting in front of a distressed client, who trusts me enough to tell me their story, it can be really difficult to remember to be efficient.
I guess I'll just have to chalk this up to a work in progress.
As I sit and stare at a clipboard full of unanswered messages, I realize I could cut my appointments just a bit shorter and not frantically scramble at the end of the day. But, when sitting in front of a distressed client, who trusts me enough to tell me their story, it can be really difficult to remember to be efficient.
I guess I'll just have to chalk this up to a work in progress.
