Friday, July 20, 2012

Wednesday's Corner

Wednesday continues to make me shake my head; not a day goes by that she doesn't say or do something jaw-droppingly stupid.  I believe I will be making this the first of a Regular Feature here on EDNurseasauras, Still in the Trenches.

Wednesday's latest statement of WTF-ery was revealed after a meeting regarding the Clarification and Scope of Everybody's  job.  Wednesday thinks that all the work not specifically spelled out in her job description belongs to someone else.  That is, except actually putting the little test-tube thingies in the machine and waiting for the computer fairies to magically sprinkle results and glitter out of their butts.  This was also apparently a belief held by Morticia, her boss.

Wednesday: "Is faxing, calling doctors, and entering orders in my job description?  Because I can't see that those things are included"

Morticia: "No.  Therefore it is the job of the ER secretary by default"

Jane (my boss): "Um, it is still your job; if you look carefully you will see that there is a section that covers other unspecified duties that are required to provide optimum patient care.  We can certainly rewrite your job description to provide painful and minute detail if it is unclear to you".

Reasonable people will do whatever is reasonably necessary; nobody is asking either of them to scrape vomit off the rug or fill the soap dispensers.  

I know that my job description doesn't say "answer the phone if the secretary is busy".

I am sure that the secretary's job description doesn't say "fill the stapler", "order supplies", or "clean the rooms if the nurses are busy" or a hundred other duties.

I know for certain that the x-ray tech's job description does not include "fax records to the ER" or "help the nurses in whatever way you can if there is a code"

WE are a team.  Wednesday and her boss are apparently not on our team, not in our league, and in fact do not play the same sport.  

Actually, they are unaware that working as a team in any way, shape or form refers to them.  What a pair.

I am now retreating into my trench and pulling the dirt in on top of me.  

1 comment:

~Clay~ said...

Thank you for this. I am a monitor tech in an ICU, and before that I was on a med/surg unit. And if didn't matter if I was trying to field 5 different calls, no one would answer a ringing line. Some had the audacity to ask me,while on the phone, to enter orders. If the patient is dying, then I can understand asking, but routine stuff can wait. We all need to work as a team. That's why I live the ICU, because if I am swamped the nurses will put their orders or fax them to pharmacy.