u/Celloschmello

ever since my boss quit, one of our front desk workers Nancy (not real name) thinks she's our boss. she's been here for like iunno 4 months? she barely knows what types of sti testing we do.

the thing is tho we have an interim manager. nancy is not the manager. at all. she applied for the gig, but she hasn't actually gotten it. they're actively interviewing people.

she applied for a manager position for another clinic in my company and they didn't want her for that. so idk where she got the idea that the manager position here will just be handed to her on a silver platter.

today nancy got into an argument with our rn, celia (not real name) and our ma, mandy (see above) about writing patients' preferred names on the charts. celia accidentally called one of our trans patients by their deadname bc their chosen name wasn't written on the chart. luckily this patient was understanding and chill, but god i can't imagine what would have happened if they weren't. so celia put in the team chat just reminding the front to write preferred names. nancy immediately copped an attitude and was like "well why should i when its written on the patient labels?" like 1. because its helpful 2. you been doing it up until last week so what's the issue? 3. our actual manager told you to. mandy replied back basically what i just laid out. it basically boiled down to us: hey please do this simple thing that will help us make sure we don't accidentally deadname patients. nancy: no. because i don't want to. then mandy was like "why does this have to be an argument? just say ok and move on" and nancy wrote back "im not the one dragging this out lol" that is a verbatim quote. churlish and insubordinate. and you wanna play big boss???

im so sick of this fucking childish bullshit. like nancy is my age (29) but shes acting like a 3 year old. actually my 3 year old cousin has better interpersonal skills than her! i came here to work not relive high school.

i want to bring my concerns to my manager but im worried about it getting back to nancy. ive tried talking to nancy but she just shuts down any criticism or general questions. idk what to do. im not quitting this job. im on our unions bargaining team and i worked my ass off to get there.

i see a lot of posts about ccmas here, yet in my part of the country ive never met a medical assistant with that certification.

im in the Midwest (northern great plains) and the most common certification here is cma (aama) and rma (amt).

what's the most common certification in your area?

my boss is resigning and her last day is July 29th. ive always joked that i don't envy her job because of the amount of bullshit she has to go through with upper management like not having autonomy with how our clinic runs its schedule, having her concerns dismissed when execs introduce horrible ideas, sitting thru bullshit meetings, and generally having a lot of responsibility.

i was a manager for some local restaurants for 2 years and i hated having so much responsibility. i just wanted to do my job, but because i was too good at that, they made me manager.

but now my boss is leaving, and im contemplating if i should go for it. for one, i have not just manager experience in restaurants, but clinic leadership too. i was an office coordinator at two clinics. i helped with billing, coordinating referrals, organizing patient records, etc. i was also a medical billing assistant for about 2 years. not to mention, my experience as an MA. i know this clinic inside and out. i already help my manager with things like ordering supplies and doing various audits. she comes to me anytime she needs help with clinical stuff like missing lab results.

there's a couple things that are stopping me. 1. i would lose my union benefits and i was just elected to our bargaining team for this next contract. if i took this job, i would no longer have guaranteed pay raises, just cause discipline, grievance rights, overtime and shift differentials, etc 2. one of our front desk workers is also vying for this position. and tbh i really don't want her to get it.

its not that i don't like her, i just think that she's inexperienced. she doesn't have any practical background in healthcare management. she's always been at the front desk, which im not discrediting that experience trust me ive been there, but i believe this clinic needs a leader who understands front and back office. she's been with us for 4 months, whereas ive been here for 2 years. she applied to be assistant manager at another clinic in our state, but she was turned down for the role. which makes me think thst i do have a better chance at getting it if i go for it.

pros: -big boost in salary -understanding what this clinic needs -im already considered a leader by everyone else. they come to me for help for everything (for better or for worse). -being able to change this clinic for the better

cons: -losing union status -longer hours -being expected to travel -dealing w general exec bullshit -having to make tough decisions -competition for the position.

what would you do in my situation?

i was recently diagnosed with narcolepy and wanting an idea of some accommodations others have so i request accommodations for myself

i love working with an amazing crew who all highly value the work we do, and care for each other as much as we care for our patients.

went to the dentist today for a cleaning. i forgot i even had this appointment until they sent a reminder call yesterday. usually a month before appointments i can get my ass in gear so i can get a good grade in dental hygiene (something that's normal to want and possible to achieve) but i didn't get that this time. so my gums were (Gordon Ramsey voice) raw.

i have a small cavity that they're keeping an eye on. i don't want it to get bigger. ive had so much dental work done in the last 6 years because i can't consistently take care of my teeth. ive lost 2 molars, have had numerous fillings, and had 2 crowns. ive had to get a night guard for bruxism.

how do u consistently make yourself brush your teeth? i don't have any sensory aversions to my toothpaste or toothbrush. i just find the task dreadfully dull.

im in the process of getting diagnosed (sleep study two weeks away!), but idk i guess im feeling like. imposter syndrome. i get intense waves of wanting to fall asleep every day during work, but i can usually keep it together to get through the day. it literally feels like when force shut down a computer. i take focalin er 25 mg during the work week for my adhd and i think that might be just enough to keep me awake. but when i don't take it on the weekends, im napping multiple times a day. as i get closer to my study, im questioning if i have really enough sleep attacks to diagnose me or if im just anxious for no reason. so before you got diagnosed, how many sleep attacks were you having? and if you're on meds, how many attacks do you have now?

i have to get this off my chest before i crash out at work.

1. clinicans going in the chart when im still in intake. stop it. (crosswalk voice) wait. you can see im in the intake from the schedule. when you go in the chart while im intaking, you have locked me out. i cannot chart. i have to awkwardly switch to using a sticky note to document and repeatedly refresh until you're out of there. there is no info in the chart that you need that can't wait until im done. i will switch it to waiting and message you when im done. just. be. patient. (pun intended)
2. moving the blood pressure cuffs. we have 5 exam rooms. 2 rooms have a tabletop bp monitor and the other 3 have rolling stand monitors. and yet! people keep moving the tabletop monitor from room 2 where it belongs to room 5 and the rolling monitor from room 5 to room 2. is it a big deal? to a normal person no. but im a genetic freak, and im not normal. i have developed a muscle memory for each room and when that tabletop monitor is gone im reaching for thin air. im neurodivergent and i want things to be the way i set them. but i don't understand the need to move them. each room has a cuff!! just keep it where it is!!!!
3. why do bd precision glide needles exist? no safety mechanism??? it was drilled into me never ever recap and needle. but what do i have to do with these ones? recap them. i aint doing it. one-handed technique works fine if you have a stable hand. i do not. they should make needles without safeties illegal. the only reason we have them is for osha testing (they want our opinions on needle safety or smth). as soon as i saw them arrive i was like absolutely fucking not.
4. when clinicians tell me to draw certain labs and then add a new lab that requires a different tube i didn't draw without telling me until after the patient left. you told me to draw a cmp, tsh, and testosterone, so i did. i double checked that this is all you want me to draw. and then as im in the lab getting them set up to clot, you wanna come by and say "hey i added a cbc for that patient." too late! ya had your chance! you get to call the patient back now since it was your mistake.
5. clinicians not ordering labs that are clearly marked on the fee ticket as needing ordered. i circled the patient requested a urine and throat gon/chlam. i told it to you. i documented it in the chart even. and yet you signed the order without ordering the throat swab. i get humans make mistakes and you miss sometimes, but this has been especially bad this week. im tired of it!!!! im 👌 this close to stop giving a shit and letting yall deal with the lab errors. also order your shit to the right lab for crying out loud.
6. unlabeled specimens. sometimes its just initials written on the tube with no dob or mrn. "DB" ok well we had 2 DBs and 1 BD so. whose piss is it?? or itll have a patient label, but no indication of the source. is it a throat swab? a vag swab? rectal? and if there's multiple tubes with no source indicated like good fucking luck. i know who does this and I've told him "if you just leave your labels with the urine sample in the lab, you will not lose your labels." because what happens is the clinician will take the folder with the labels with them to chart and then the labels get shredded. its not so bad bc when we collect specimen in epic a new lab label prints with the req number. but still, how am i supposed to know which swab goes to req 123456 for a throat swab and req 123457 for a vaginitis panel if theres no source indicated on the tubes!!!!

im ok now.

i have pcos (now called pmos) and one of my biggest triggers for pulling is the excess facial hair that comes with it. i hated how dark and coarse it was. i would often spend hours in the mirror trying to pluck every hair.

i went to my doctor last year and asked about using spironolactone to help block the androgens that cause my facial hair to grow. ive been taking 50 mg every day since then and oh my god does it make a difference!

my facial hair as become so much thinner or has stopped growing in some spots altogether. it also helped with my dermatillomania bc it prevents my hormonal acne. now i only pluck the stray coarse hairs.

i highly recommend talking to your provider about spiro if you also struggle with excess hair from pcos/pmos!

im autistic af and i rely heavily on scripting to talk to people. i usually will ask my patients if they have plans for the rest of the day but im looking to branch out into other small talk topics to ask to build rapport. what are some of your guys' go-to small talk questions with patients?

if you're sleeping on scrub skirts and dresses you better not be. it's about to be too damn hot to wear pants. if your job or school doesn't mandate that you have to wear pants get you some skirts and dresses. i love wink's cargo scrub skirts. if anyone has recommendations for more brands i would love to hear them! trying to build up a collection.