Welcome back to my weekend reflections, where I dive into the highs and lows of my workweek!
High: I have been taking some time off these past couple of weekends for various reasons, so this was my first weekend working three days in a row. It was a good weekend—census was low, not a lot of crises, and I was able to leave on time all three days.
One of the cases that came through was an ED patient who needed placement and had no capacity. It was a challenge, to say the least. There were so many factors—family, health, mental health, physical, financial, etc.—that came into play when trying to safely discharge, and this was one of those cases that took a lot of investigating, a lot of phone calls, and back and forth with multiple disciplines. Even though it was a difficult case, I thoroughly enjoyed it. By the time I left Monday night, I was able to get the process started so that whoever is covering the rest of the week has a good starting point.
I enjoy the challenge, the digging into charts, the barriers and having to overcome them—because let’s be real, there are always multiple barriers, and if there weren’t any, we would have never been consulted—and the knowledge and skills you gain as you go. There are so many soft skills that you gain by working on cases that are not cut and dry.
It’s one of the reasons I love working in a hospital. Most days follow a familiar pattern, but every now and then, a case comes along that forces you to tap into your critical thinking. It’s always a good reminder for me and anyone else who gets tough cases- that you’re competent, confident, and fully capable of handling tough situations—and tough people.
Low: There was nothing this weekend that I would consider a low point- everything, thankfully, went well.