I don't know if this is even appropriate for Allnurses, but here goes. I'm working in a one-doctor office. Though I am an RN, I was hired to fulfill a medical assistant role, which was ok with me as a means to an end beyond this particular job. I thought I'd work there for a year, learn what I could and then move on. I've come 2/3rds of the way.
Long story short, I am the only one left in the office besides the doc and because of this I have had to do the front office tasks, i.e., answer the phone, re/schedule patients, check in/out, take payments, all the administrative tasks associated with a doctor's office. Plus I room patients and do some minor documentation in the charts.
There is more work than I can do, and it is of such an intensity that I am exhausted. The doctor massively mismanages the business, and I regularly field calls from patients who do not get their tests or prescriptions called in as requested, who do not get test results once the tests are done, who are confused and angry because there is no follow up, or from creditors who shut off accounts for nonpayment. On top of this the paycheck does not come regularly: I am paid biweekly, am 1 paycheck behind, and the latest check is late.
The doctor was totally unprepared for ICD-10 adoption on October 1, and we are now unable to bill. It is a setting of utter chaos. I also happen to know that the doctor is now under warning from the local hospital professional organization for not paying dues and not charting within the required time frame.
I am currently training a medical receptionist. I'm very organized, have kept the front desk "together," and feel like a complete and utter fraud with this woman, a very nice woman who needs her paycheck to be regular. She likes me, and I evidently put on a good show of having it all under control. I am not telling her that she should run away now, though that is what I think she should do.
I got into this mess because I wanted the job, I wanted it for a year, and I was willing (and able) to put up with alot of nonsense. Then things happened and I ended up being the last employee on staff. I'm not sure what I'm going to do, but I'm miserable right now and having a tough time sleeping.
I'd love to read your thoughts. Opinions, please.