vacation!

Day One of eleven days in which I do not have to appear at my workplace. Hallelujia!

It's not that I hate my occupation. I don't. I actually love it a lot. I love connecting with the patients. I love my (gifts) abilities to put them at ease, educate, and empathize with them. I love the opportunity to observe a vast spectrum of our society. I love being told that I am good at what I do, and the positive feedback I receive, from my patients and my doctors.

*this is how I want to take care of my patients - and I do, when "they" let me.

An affirming moment yesterday:
It was a busy morning. I called Patient B in, and noticed Patient A, who had been elsewhere in the clinic. "Are you done with Dr. ___?" "Yes." "Okay, we'll be with you soon." It was a typical exchange, nothing remarkable. When I brought Patient A into the exam room, he was very cheerful - not unusual for him. He began our conversation, thanking me for replying to his phone message a few days ago. He was effusive with his praise. He never expects to reach someone on the phone when he calls, much less receive a call back when he leaves a message. He went on to say, "I would like to tell you that you were the subject of conversation in the waiting room. People were talking about how nice you are." Wow. How lovely!

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(Tangent: !!! I am always fairly appalled at the low expectations for service in this particular, enormous, HMO under which I am currently employed. I am even more appalled at the low respect my fellow employees [and managers] have for the time, feelings and dignity of the patients. Based on my limited experience here, if I had to quantify the corporate attitude toward ethics, it would be that the sole motivation is avoidance of litigation. If it's not illegal, screw patient dignity.)

*if this woman was a patient where I work - and this image is certainly representative of
the patients I meet - she would likely: expect to be acknowledged only after offering her
HMO number (and not her name),never be asked if her assigned appointment is convenient for her,
never expect to have her medical tests explained to her, never expect to reach a warm human
being if she calls the doctor (not expect an answer to a message),
never expect the support staff to be pleasant or knowledgeable.
Anything outside of those expectations is considered extraordinary.

Anyway.

Vacation! More later (no, I really mean it this time!) Wedding flowers to show, and other stories to tell: perhaps some baking projects, gardening, a baseball game... I'm free! I'm free!

*none of the above images originated with me; they are compliments of Google images.