Am I asking too much here?

[AngelfireRN, MSN, RN, APRN]

OK, so one of our docs (Dr Nice) calls in today, sick as a dog. Called to ask me to pick up his patient load (yay, me!!!!) Two GXTs in articular he was adamant that I perform myself. Not Dr Locums, me (Dr Big Dog had clinic).

So, in between rounds and stresses (during which time Dr Locums looked like he had just swallowed a rather large hedgehog, me having an ORDER to do the test myself, and nothing he could do about it, hee hee), I get a page:

"You have a site check at the office, Mr Imma Hurting."

Hmm, news to me. I didn't have anyone on for today (the nurses always ask if I think they need to be seen, when, do I mind this time, etc).

I called the office, and come to find out, this man was put on last Thursday, and no one had thought to mention it to me. I asked the lady who scheduled the visit why no one had notified me, and got,

"Well, I wasn't aware that we were supposed to notify you."

Which begs the question, since it'l be ME seeing these folks, exactly WHO she thought needed to know.

I wasn't mad, I was upset that the man had to wait, as I was in the middle of a GXT and was across the street at hospital. I couldn't just leave.

Long story short, he was OK, had a complication from a procedure, nothing dire. But he still had to wait 10 minutes longer than he should have, until I could get across the street, look at the chart, and figure out why he was even there.

Was discussing the sitch with a doc later at hospital, and mentioned that maybe I needed to stop being so laid-back, as it seemed to be coming back to bite me. He agreed! Said that everyone thought the world of me, in part because they knew that thay could count on me to handle whatever, whenever, and I never got mad, but that in time, they'd come to expect it, and one day I would not be at a point where I could humor them, and the roof would fall in. I like people knowing that they can come to me, but I think my doc buddy may have had a point.

Guys, help me out here. All I want is a heads-up, you have this patient at this time for this reason. A stick on my desk will do fine, so long as I know I need to be here for the visit. That way, no one has to wait.

Am I asking too much? NP's, RN's, MD's, does your office staff schedule you for things, not tell you, and then hunt you down to remind you of what you knew nothing about that they scheduled you for?

Office nurses, what is procedure in your office, when scheduling add-ons? Does the attending get notified?

How best to handle this, without looking like I'm trying to pull rank? Thanks, much appreciated.

[Orange Tree]

This made me laugh a little bit and also drove me crazy :)

Maybe you should just be more direct. I felt like I was reading......"I care, well not really.....well I sort of care, but not in the way you might think.....well it's not an issue, but it kind of is.....I mean, maybe it is....sort of....uhhhhh"

[canigraduate]

Sounds like you need to take a stand with them. Laid back is code for pushover where I come from.