No Idea

I do have to say, I love my job. I get appreciated on a daily basis, and seriously it really does make a diffrence. It's a great feeling and it actually makes it more pleasing to get ready in the mornings and go to work.

A couple of days ago; a patient comes in 20 minutes late, I explained she was 20 minutes late and that our policy is-20 minutes late, you reschedule the patient. I told her I would ask the doctor if she'd be able to fit her in.

The doctor was nice enought to squeeze her into the busy afternoon. I was pleased to inform the patient that she would be seen, but that it would definitely be a wait since the doctor was in with the next patient. Interestingly, the patient had a fit! She snaps at me asking me "how much of a wait are we talking about?" I answered as polite as I could; "Ma'am, the doctor is nice enough to fit you in, but of course she's seeing the next patient, I'm really not sure and I can't guess how long you would have to wait". She seemed upset, but really there was not much I could say to her, I was actually upset she was having trouble accepting the wait, when she was 20 minutes late!! I mean, it was not our fault she missed her appointment time. Anyways, I told her to have a seat in the waiting room and that she would be called.

Later on that afternoon, this same patient walks into my office and interrupts my speaking to one of my co-workers. This kind of irritated me, since it's the same lady that was giving me grief earlier, but I was patient enough and listened to what she had to say. I was pretty surprised when she started apologizing to me. She was explaining how it was not nice of her to take all her frustations out on me. She also explained, I'm not there to take disrespect from patients and proceeded to apologize a few more times. I was very pleased at the fact that she was nice enough to accept her mistake.

This was really pleasing to me. I felt valued and respected at this point. I then knew I wasn't being mean or non-understanding at all. The patient was just frustrated and let her anger take over.

The rest of the day was a breeze. That little moment of value and appreciation was nice. It made me understand that I was right at not getting more upset at the patient for lashing out on me because eventually she was able to admit to her mistake.

Sometimes you just have to keep your cool. In the end it works out-of course sometimes it doesn't. That moment though will stay with me for a few months I guess. It will allow me to be a better person at understanding.