Friday, July 30, 2010

I love the clerical department!

If RCMH is a "well-oiled machine," (and it's usually not) it's the office goddesses are who keep our place up and running. (Don't you dare call them "secretaries"--as I found out to my chagrin on the first day of work.) We couldn't survive without their amazing clerical skills (I'm pretty sure the docs haven't used a fax machine since the Macarena was the new dance craze.) but it's all the "little things" they do that make the day go more smoothly for us all.

Like warning me which pharmacies are hard to deal with, so I'm emotionally prepared before I telephone Overly Expensive Drug to ask why our deliveries haven't arrived. And taking the gazillion Post-It notes that have pharmacy phone and fax numbers scrawled on them and making them into an alphabetized spread sheet!

When I've spent the last twenty minutes on the phone with an insurance agency punching random numbers in the hope of contacting a live person to get a medication pre-authorized, they've even been known to come to my office holding a sign to tell me a patient is waiting to see me.

One of them, June, is a truly formidable woman. She's bilingual, incredibly intelligent, and very good at her job. (I want to be like her when I grow up!) She has worked for RCMH for the last twenty years and doesn't suffer fools lightly. Many patients (and some of the staff) have described her as "scary."

Yesterday the secretary who's in charge of our patient assistance program (making sure people get the medication they need even if they can't afford it) called. She asked many questions about why Vince Lombardi wasn't getting his prescribed medications and could we give him samples until the paperwork went through.

"Sure, we can do that," I said. "But why did Mr. Lombardi call you about this instead of me?"

There was a pause on the other end of the line. "Don't take this the wrong way, but he says he thinks you're scary."

Cha-ching!

Why do I do this?

I am a psychiatric nurse for the Random County Mental Health department. I work with doctors, nurse practitioners, pharmacies, therapists, social workers, the local crisis hotline staff, and the county parole & probation department. If they're involved in the treatment of our patients, I talk to them!

Most of the time I really enjoy my job. However, there are some days when dealing with the docs, the patients and the pharmacies can make me feel a little crazy myself.

Writing this blog is how I deal with days like that.

HIPPA disclaimer:
No accurate patient information is contained here. If you think you recognize the description of yourself or a friend or family member in these writings, you're mistaken. I'm probably making this stuff up just for my own amusement.