The long and short of it........

 

 

Me (on the front left), my cousin Kathy and Barb and Earl.  No one has figured out the little girl on the upper right of the photo.....

This past week was the week from hell.  I worked an extra day, to help get caught up from short staffing from the week before.  That alone is exhausting.  I know.....it's pretty hard to feel sorry for someone who works 34 hours a week on average.  Just remember, I'm not used to it....😀

On Tuesday, there was a complaint from a patient that one of us (I give you one chance to guess who) wasn't wearing a mask.  That was bad enough, but on Wednesday, there was another complaint.  So, although we could take off our masks behind the plexiglass, if a patient came up to our desks, we put it on.  I put mine on whenever a patient walked in the door, and kept it on until the waiting room is empty.  

During the Thursday morning meeting we were told that we must keep our masks on at all times.  

Now, Ms. Loud had even brought a pulse oximeter to the office ` it measures your oxygen levels in case you don't know.  She claims that wearing a mask gives her headaches, changes the pH of her body, increases the carbon dioxide levels.  She's a staunch anti-masker.  

As we are walking down the hall towards our desks, she leans over and whispers that if she gets a headache, she's going home.  Which doesn't really sound too bad, except she and I were the only staff up front that day of our usual 4.  So, I freaked out.  

To make matters worse, she did nothing much at all that day.  Normally when there are two of us, both of us sit up front.  Her desk is behind me, with her back to the waiting room, which is where she stayed all day.  Oh, she answered the phone.  But she didn't help with checking anyone in, or with anything else that required her to face the waiting room, so that she could take off her mask for most of the day.

So, even though this was my "short" weekend, I was never so happy to see Friday come to a close.  I hope she retires soon, although I doubt it.

Next week should be better.  I am counting on it.

Love, 365