maineiac

Indeed some good ideas! in response to rx's the worst so far has been the mom with a son on effexor who haden't seem anbody for 6 months and was feeling suicidal ,,also at the other end of the state and mom wanted to know could i call in a refill within the next ten minutes as she was leaving for a trip and wanted to mail his rx before she left. My staff is so overwhelmed by the phone that at each ring some negative comment escapes, this just drags down the whole office. Our phones are our lifelines, although I empathize I really don't have any good ideas how to solve the problem.We cannot afford any additional staff just now, and I have turned off ! line while we have been down to 2 front desk people. thank you all so much for sharing your wisdom. whatever anyone might think office nurses are on the front lines and it is not the cushy job some envision.

You nailed it right on the head. I don't understand why some people seem to be invested in maintaining chaos. After many years in nursing I have observed that often we don't support each other.It seems quite a paradox that those who care so well for others fail to care for their own. If nothing else I will stay in this position a bit longer because I feel I'm learning many lessons about communication and community. If an office can't get along is it much wonder about events in africa and iraq? namaste chuck

Has anybody else tried from the bottom up management? Was it horrible in the beggining? I truly believe in personal empowerment and giving staff as much control as possible over their work and enviroment. I am starting to wonder if there are just plain people who are too immature to handle it or if I am not being patient enough. Summary to date I was hired 10 weeks ago to a 9 provider family practice/psych to replace the current office manager of 7 years who was not fired but moved laterally due to staff and provider complaints about her personality and management style. I have instituded from the bottom up policy for nurses and front office. There are only 3 staff members from previous group as everyone else quit primarily from politics.Today at our weekly staff meeting I was berated by the cna for "not helping out", with nursing tasks. I pointed out that we suddenly lost 50% of our staff and that I had been busy intervewing 3-5 people a week trying to reach staffing goals.When I requested she be a liason to transfer info to the other nursing staff she said she wasen't being paid management wages and then suggested the old office manager come back. All this after a one on one meeting in which she requested more autonomy and ridiculed the previous manager. When the nursing staff meets as a group,I feel like bait with a pack of wolves. I cannot believe my ears that these same people who are so enthusiastic and supportive individually gang up on me when in a group. In a nutshell should I wait this out? is it backlash from previous mismanagement? am I making myself a target by being so easy and trying to create a team? finally should I quit while I'm ahead and sell Avon/Tupperware? has anyone else been through this?

No it's not that you've been in critical care too long.I did not know what it was either. 3rd degree ankle is when 2 or more of the major ligaments sustain either partial or complete tears resulting in separation from the bones( it also means your entire ankle and foot balloon to 3 x it's normal size and turn interesting shades of blue and black now subsiding to green and earth tones) I'm highly recommending that anyone reads about it rather than learn firsthand. thanks for your note,it's great to stay in touch.

In a timley event I now find myself in a "drug" seeking behavior.lol Since I last posted I had a bizarre accident at Walmart while buying dog food, they rolled a low dolly behind me and I turned around and fell over it sustaining a 3rd degree ankle sprain and 2 fractures. Now I'm taking Vicodin and it's not much fun since pain is so subjective I wonder how we can judge from this side how much pain someone is having. I also note I am not sleeping well at all ? from the vic's or the discomfort. I find myself getting so cranky from being in pain and immobile I wonder how my dog stands me. My point is I can now more easily understand how someone might become tolerant/dependent because this stuff really screws up you mental process, and your lifestyle. I am almost thinking that some kind of counseling/depression screening would be very appropriate for anyone on meds longer than 1 week. Is anyone familiar with the biological neurotransmitter changes that result from meds?

Our practice has collaborated and developed a clear narcotics agreement which ALL patients sign when rec. a rx for pain meds. One of the key components is no refill for any reason without an office visit. ie if script lost, dog ate it ect. Thankfully all of the staff is on the same page about enforcing it.I would be happy to get a copy to you if you will provide your office address.

Good idea, we already do turn the phones off at 4:30.The biggest offender seems to be the pharmacy.For instance they will have a patient at the pharmacy fax us a request and then call back sometimes repeatedly.Our 48 hour refill policy is clearly written in the front office and clearly stated on our new rx line.Without being rude how can I enforce it?

thanks for your reply. we are trying to answer calss as they come in. today at the management meeting we decided to restrict the incoming lines untill the new staff is up to speed and we are able to hire additional staff. would welcome other ideas about how to decrease incoming calls, the office feels like a mash unit lol

Looking for some solutions, the office is down 3 people in the front. The 6 phone lines are ringing off the hook. This is causing real stress to the 2 people out front and resulting in patients being on hold for 20 min, hanging up in frusteration or the wrong line being picked up so confidential information was communicated. Luckily in the last instance the caller was a nurse friend of mine calling about coumadin protocols. Management meeting is on Monday so I would love to have some ideas over the weekend. blessings chuck