THE 12 DAYS OF URGENT CARE
(to the tune of the 12 days of Christmas)… sing it with me
On my first day of urgent care, the public brought to me
a trail of vomit from the front door
on the second day of urgent care, the public brought to me
2 kids with head lice
And a trail of vomit from the front door
On my 3rd day of urgent care, the public brought
to me
3 I have chest pain
2 kids with head lice
a trail of vomit from the front door
and so on…here’s the final chorus
On my 12th day at Urgent Care the public brought
to me
12 cough, congestion
11 think its strep throat
10 freaky rashes
9 sprained my ankle
8 need a drug screen
7 I have fever
6 I sliced my finger
5 pit bull bites
4 it hurts to pee
3 strep throat
2 kids with lice
And a trail of vomit from the front door
LOL.. such is the life of an urgent care front desk
person. I have truly enjoyed the
“variety” of my job though while mopping up vomit and itching after checking
out the rashes and head lice I have questioned my sanity. The fast pace is challenging and the time
flies by. I thought we would serve maybe
3 or 4 people in a hour or so but in the 6 weeks I’ve been there, I can only
think of one or two days that we didn’t have
at least 75-80 people in a day.
The weekends are particularly hectic since most doctors’ offices are
closed and it’s not unusual to see 80 people in a 7 hour period.
I know I will get some flak from my friends with pit bulls
for putting that dog breed in my little ditty above, but the truth is we have
at least 2-3 dog bites a week, once 2 in one day and of the approximately 10
bites I have checked in on the days I’ve worked (so there are probably many
more) with the exception of one which was a German Shepard mix, all have been
pit bulls and all have looked like a piece of mangled meat. These aren’t just your average broke the skin
and a small puncture wound. Of those say
10 bites, maybe 3 have been strangers to the pit bull, but most have been
family members who got in the way of a bone or a toy. Most heartbreaking was the teenager who came
in with a bloodied hand sobbing hysterically because she had just dropped off
her mangled Boston Terrier at the vet before coming in to take care of her own
wounds. Walking her dog, she had encountered
a pit bull and had tried to break up the attack. To those of you who are offended by this
soapbox on what you will say are gentle as a lamb family pets, I am sorry. Gentle…… until they aren’t. I realize that any dog breed has the
propensity to bite for no reason at all.
Heck, Quincy would bite if walked to close to his dog bowl on a bad day,
but the sheer number of pit bull bites in the amount of time I’ve been working
at Urgent care and at just one urgent care facility makes me a little wary of
them.
There have been days that I have wanted to cry. Those days when a woman comes in with bruises and a black eye and claims she fell while looking nervously at the man who brought her in...those days when a child comes in with an injury that the drugged out mother can't explain...the day that a mother signed in her deaf adult son and then left to run errands and we had no way to communicate other than through what felt like a game of charades....the gory injuries like the man with the nail though his hand when his nail gun malfunctioned or the restaurant worker who sliced off his fingertips along with the onion. The particularly sweet little man with dementia who came out of the bathroom, pee cup in hand but pants still pulled down around his knees for all to see. The drug seekers that scream obscenities at us when the doctor refused to prescribe a narcotic. And always the sadness I feel when I have to turn away someone that has no insurance and no money to pay the fee. Every once in a while someone will come back up to the front desk after seeing the doctor and thank me for being so patient with them when they've taken forever to fill out the forms. And it always puts a smile on my face when a child finds the perfect sticker in the sticker drawer at checkout. Especially the teenage "children". Hearing a mom read a book to her sick child while they wait, watching a man with his arm around his wife or holding her hand as she waits her turn.....or the 93 year old woman who said she wouldn't know if she had a drug allergy because she'd never taken so much as an aspirin in her entire life...its all part of my day. The smiles, the frustrations, the uncomfortable moments, the sadness, the anger. Humanity.
For the most part, I love the job Some things better than others. Love the pace , not so fond of a hyper critical supervisor
who takes every opportunity to point out anything you have done incorrectly
instead of applauding the fact that her staff has just handled paperwork for 20
customers in an hour and not one complaint. I really do enjoy the work. After the last experience where I’d rate the
management on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the worst in terms of style and
compassion and respect a 14, this one at a 5 is bearable. Lunch breaks are erratic because there is never a lull in the action and it’s hard to
walk away when there is Standing room only of sick people needing to be checked
in asap. And let’s just say that the
words “15 minute break” were put in the manual by someone who obviously lives
in “lala land”. Though I do plan to start taking them regardless at least on
the 12 hour days I work for my own personal health. Checking my blood sugar and eating a snack
shouldn’t be something I compromise on. If I’m passed out I can’t check people
in, right?
After 10 years in management, I have found that being an
hourly, non-management employee has both plusses and minuses. It was quite difficult at first for me to
overcome the pride and accept that I was not in charge and that no matter how
menial the task or how disrespectfully I was treated, I was not in a position
to question the directive or suggest a different tactic in getting what you
want from an employee. The overtime is
awesome in that I am paid for it when I
work 60 hours instead of it being “salaried” which means you work long hours
and the proverbial “it’ll be a wash because some days you can leave early or
not be docked for taking time off for a dr. apt etc.” never happens. And clocking out and not thinking about it until
you clock back in has its advantages.
Instead of continually worrying how to address a problem, or market the
company more effectively, or fixing a payroll issue or revamping the schedule
because someone quit, I simply clock out, come home and live my life free of
“work issues”.
I may make a lot less money now, but ultimately I am much
happier because I have time to walk and to enjoy time with Joe and watch the
birds and the squirrels and the rabbits outside my window in the RV. Selling the house in Muskogee and moving into
a 390 square foot RV was a huge step for me. I thought that I would be
miserable. Instead, I have found the joy
in the simple life. Things don’t matter
and now I buy what I need, not what I want.
Same with the money I make at my new job. I thought I’d miss the salary but I actually
have more money in the bank than when I made more. Not completely sure how that worked out other
than I know every time in my life that I got a raise, it seemed to be swallowed
up by another “thing”. When I took the
cut in pay to get out of the “rat race”, we set up a budget and it has been
surprisingly easy to stick to. Walking
for stress relief has replaced eating for stress. Watching the birds has replaced going to Kohls
to shop, etc. The more I have simplified
my life, the happier I have become.
Used to be when I told people that I live in an RV, with no
debt, and 2 old cars and happier than ever they questioned my sanity and my
sincerity. 3 years in to this
“adventure” the tide seems to be changing.
As people hear my tale of a simply life of simple things and simple
pleasures and simply no crushing debt keeping me awake at night, they are more
apt to say “wow that sounds awesome” than to say “what a weirdo”. What works
for us might not work for everyone but it’s our little slice of paradise.
“freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose” It’s a good feeling. If I lost everything, I’d still have
everything. I’m living the dream.
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