Oh wise magic 8 ball....

Sitting on the corner of my desk in the Rehab Department is a magic 8 ball. It was given to my by one of my former coworkers when I left my previous job. She said it might come in handy one day. She couldn't be more prophetic if she tried.

As previously mentioned, I work in the Rehab Department at the local hospital. I order supplies for the department, make sure that the inpatients are covered by therapists, do all the secretarial projects for the therapists, register patients for their appointments, and most importantly schedule the outpatient appointments for 7 different offices. (along with a variety of day to day things that need to be done to keep the office going.) It's enough to keep ya hopping 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. We're closed for outpatients on the weekends.

How is the Magic 8 ball relevant to this story you might ask? Well, it gets put to use frequently when we (the other Admin. Assistant and myself) are dealing with patients on the phone. Most often for scheduling purposes. Often times things come up and for some reason or another, patent's can not make their scheduled appointments. Which is fine, we're happy to reschedule for the patient who calls. We however have patients and Dr.'s offices that call with some of the most outlandish requests for both scheduling and rescheduling appointments. It's not uncommon for people or Dr's offices to call and ask if they could get an appointment with a certain therapist on that same day and then get upset when we have to tell them that its not possible due to the therapists schedule already being filled for the day.

Here's where the 8 ball comes into play. When the calls come in with those same day requests or something equally outlandish, we listen to their story (or rant) and then politely place them on hold. Out comes the magic 8 ball and the fun begins. (Well, for us in the office anyway.) We ask the 8 ball things like "Can Mr. S. be worked in today?" or "Is it possible for Mrs. E. to reschedule her daughter's appointment for the 6th time today?" Then we flip the 8 ball over and get answers like " Signs point to yes", "Outlook not so good," or even "Reply hazy, try again." Then we pick up the phone and proceed to be as accommodating for the patient or Dr. as possible. Professional? probably not, Great stress reliever? definitely! It also gets used by the therapists (all 20 or so of them.) They usually ask if patient so and so is going to no show for the 4th time in a row, or if Dr. God's gift to the planet is going to do what they asked him to.

Working in the medical field is a high stress position for everyone involved. From the president of the hospital, to the docs, down to the secretaries and the housekeepers. You're on call 24/7 and stuck in a damned if you do and damned if you don't situation at all times. You're constantly dealing with insurance companies, other medical professionals, along with patients and family members. All of whom have their own "political" (for lack of a better term) agendas to follow. So, a good stress reliever like a magic 8 ball or using the teaching skeleton to hold the radio is a good thing. It helps keep our sanity in this dog eat dog world that we work in.

Well, it's time for me to call it a night. I'm hoping to get out of work early tomorrow. I have the day off of work on Thursday (Friday Eve) and want to get there as soon as possible. And 5:00 AM comes surprisingly early...