Monday, October 1, 2012

Meanwhile back at VBB Animal Hospital...

I know we have a loyal technician and assistant following, and goodness knows I wouldn't want to offend them. I'm sure none of YOU, gentle readers, would ever do anything like this, however.

Here at VBB Animal Hospital we often find ourselves running out of things. You know, things like commonly dispensed medications, bandage materials, pill vials - the things we use all the time. Why is this? Well - times are tough all over, and when you order things, you have to pay for them, and when the clients can't or won't pay for anything, it's hard to cover payroll and stay in business and -

You know, this was supposed to be a humor piece, so, let's leave the messy financials out of this one. So, ok. The other day I was slogging along, seeing appointments, having an ok day really, when I was approached by a staff member. "Dr. VBB," she said, holding back a sob, "I have a problem and I don't know how to fix it!"

Now, I try not to jump to conclusions because in my line of work that can get you into big trouble but she did seem really upset and I have to say my adrenals gave a good squeeze right then. "What's the matter?" I asked her.

She held out two pill vials, one in each hand. These, by the way, were the last two pill vials we had in stock that day. "Mr. Fillitnow called and asked for refills for Landshark's medications. I saw that you had okayed two refills each in advance, so I went ahead and filled them. But - I accidentally put the labels on the wrong vials! What do I do now??"

I'll let you think about that for a minute.

What to do, what to do.

Had I been at my desk, I almost certainly would have just *headdesk*ed right then, leaving her standing there, arms outstretched, near tears, and now worried about my mental health. We were standing in the hallway beside our pharmacy however, so I simply took the vials from her, opened one, poured out the pills, looked at her, and asked "do you think you can take it from here?"

Some days I don't know why I even bother chewing through the restraints, people.

11 comments:

  1. Speaking as an RVT...who's done a couple things to cause her vets to have *headdesk* moments a time or two in my 15 years in the veterinary profession...LMAO!!! :D

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  2. As someone who has also suffered from near fatal brain-farts in the past...I feel for your staff member. Go easy on the poor soul, I'm sure she was just having a "moment" and isn't normally that dumb. That or....well.....lots of people are looking for jobs!

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  3. You put the blue pill in
    You take the blue pill out.
    You put the blue pill in
    And you shake it all about.

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  4. Now that's what she said. hehe.

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  5. Wow, she must have been having a really bad day! Poor girl. I love my technician manager, because when I am having a "moment" and ask a really stupid question, he just looks at me and asks, "what do you think?" That's usually enough for me to figure it out pretty quickly on my own. :P

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  6. OMG there are more employees out there like ours?! I have worked as an "assistant", can't say technician or apparently some people flip out, since '85. In current hospital since '91. It seems impossible to find help anymore. We deal with a similar type daily. It can be funny, but frustrating. I so wish my dogs had thumbs and could talk we would hire them!

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    1. Thankfully most of the techs I work with are awesome! I found some pretty cool people to work with, and don't plan on leaving for a long time!

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  7. Hahaha, thats awful. I'm a vet tech, I really hope she was just having a bad day. Thankfully our staff doesn't do that!

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  8. Good blog and interesting information! I can also discuss about veterinarian Austin TX which is effective to provide full treatment to the suffered animals.

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  9. I Love Dr Pol!!!
    You are a hater!

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