Just when we thought it couldn't get worse... IT DID!
My boss let us know he put the office up for sale, but we didn't hear much after that. About a month before he retired he called an emergency meeting. He basically told us he wasn't allowed to tell us per his contract, but he didn't feel right keeping us in the dark. The next month was a ton of anxiety. We didn't know what the new dentist was doing to get herself prepared to come into our office and we didn't know how to get ready for her to start. We had a pretty good benefit package with our current boss so we were worried about what our new boss would provide us. The last few days were stressful. I was in charge of getting the retirement letters ready. My boss and his wife kept telling me different things. I made sure to make sure it was ok with my boss to get the letters and envelopes ready. I wasn't allowed to send them till the deal was done. I had everything ready and got multiple calls from his wife saying I wasn't supposed to print the letters yet. I told her the boss approved it and they were already printed. She was annoyed and told me not to mail it. The next day it was the same bullshit. At this point I was seriously annoyed. I know she was stressed, but so was I! The Dr's last day was totally slow. Out of the 6 of us, only 2 of us planned to do something for the Dr. The other 4 were like, "Oh yeah! We should do something for his last day." When we asked them what they wanted to do or gave suggustions, they were silent. His last day, he didn't bring a lunch because he thought that we'd do a potluck. One girl baked a cake, and I brought champagne for an end of the day / retirement toast. All the girls ran out without knowing if the deal was even done! So we had a very small champagne toast. The girls were excited for the next day because the new Dr was bringing us breakfast. All she brought were bagels and a ton of bad news. She was cutting our paid vacation time, cancelling our winter vacation, telling we had to get our personal / family dental treatment after hours, and basically made a huge deal about if we took time off then we needed to find someone to cover. I'm very good at my job. When someone cancels, I'm able to fill the schedule quickly. Any break she gets, she's sitting on her computer and the second someone cancels she comes up to me and tells me who to put in the schedule. She doesn't even put into account the patient insurance frequency, whether they're scheduled together with their family, etc. She just expects people to move at the drop of a dime. There was another day where the day fell apart so she told me not to worry, we could just tell one assistant to not come in. It's the freaking holidays and we are strapped for cash! It's bad enough we didn't get a Thanksgiving bonus when our old boss always did. She's unbelievablly unorganized. You would think she would have an accountant, a list of insurances she's signed up with, and even her personal business cards ready. Nope! She had absolutely nothing! I have so much experience for a little baby dentist with no idea how to run a business telling me what to do. It just sucks this is happening during the holidays. I don't like working for this dentist, but I know all our patients are counting on me and the other girls to be there and comfort them though this time. I don't know how long I can handle it though. At this time in my life I want more of a work / life balance. I just feel like I have less time to enjoy my life.
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The last couple months have really pushed me to the edge at work.
One of my co-workers took about 2 months off for medical reasons. At first my boss asked if we should hire help and we all agreed we needed help. He asked me to put an ad up to get help and we hired multiple people only for him to change his mind multiple times. He complained that there were lazy people in the office and they just needed to step it up. Basically we got pushed into agreeing we didn't need to hire extra help. The 2 months were awful. The two lazy workers worked slightly harder, but they were still lazy and in reality only the hard workers worked hard to the bone. I was working 2 jobs (Dental Assisting and Schedule Coordinating). I never got my full lunch break and I would leave an hour later than everyone every night. With my Graves Disease condition, I went to feeling better to feeling like complete crap. What could I do? No one knows how to do my front office job when I'm not there, and the one assistant definitely couldn't handle doing all the assisting herself. I tried to stay positive, but how could I? I was disgusted with the Dr. He saw how I was working my ass off. He would brag about me to patients about how I could do 2-3 jobs at a time. Did I ever get a special thank you? In fact, everyone got a bonus the last day... even the lazy people who didn't have much more of a work load. The other front office girl spends 50% of her day on her personal phone scrolling Facebook. Does the boss ever say anything to her? NOPE! Yet he makes rude comments to me more often. He commented how he didn't like certain things when I was assisting and lately has been so nit picky about the way I schedule. I try hard to meet production goals, but it's hard and sometimes impossible when the other girl isn't putting her weight. Not only has the boss been nit picking at me... His wife who is the office manager nitpicks me about things I order. We use one toner cartridge a month and she was asking me why we order so much. It's not some random item that our office can live without. I have been questioning why I'm still at this office. It will be my 7 years anniversary next month. I have so many responsibilities yet I'm getting paid less than my lazy counterpart. I don't feel respected or appreciated anymore. The boss seems to be secretly planning his retirement which makes me question my future goals even more. In my last post I mentioned that I was experiencing rapid heartbeat. Last week it got so bad that I was stressing myself out even more and I couldn't sleep. My husband wasn't helping either. He kept telling me that it was basically in my head.
I probably slept less than an hour and got ready for work. I really wanted to kick my husband while I was getting our son ready for school because I felt out of breath along with the rapid heartbeat. My husband was just sleeping without a care in the world. It was a struggle getting my son to school. I'm so glad we didn't have to walk upstairs to his classroom because his teacher was still downstairs. When I got to work I still felt awful. My co-worker checked my blood pressure and it was a little elevated. I felt like I needed to go to the emergency room, but I was more concerned with helping out at work. As I've mentioned, the girl I work with is not very bright. I have to pretty much babysit her and tell her how to do her job. After an hour I couldn't handle it anymore. My co-worker drove me down the road to an urgent care and dropped me off. The nurses got me back quickly and the first thing they made me do was take off my shirt to take an EKG. It was scary. I never had one before. The doctor came in and told me my heart rate was 136 which is double the time it should be beating. He made it seem like I was stressed out and that I would be ok. However, he wanted me to go to the Emergency room to get medication that would help slow down my heart. I waited for my co-worker to pick me up. Once I got to work I picked up my things and told the Dr that I would be out for the rest of the day. I am so glad that my boss is very caring and understanding. When I got to the emergency room, there were not a lot of people. I was hopeful that I would be in and out within a couple hours. It was about 10:30am. I kept thinking once I got my medication, I was going to eat lunch and take a nap. The nurse took me back for another EKG. She was fumbling a lot and it was annoying because she was over vocalizing all the things going wrong with the machine. Unprofessional. Once she finally figured out what she was doing, the EKG went faster than when I was at urgent care. Back out into the waiting room. The blood test. Back to the waiting room. Then the xray tech came out to tell me the Dr ordered a chest xray. Back to the waiting room. Another nurse came out to get another blood sample. She explained the Dr wanted to check my thyroid. What? My thyroid? I have never had issues with it before as far as I knew. The nurse told me I would get an ultrasound to check my thyroid. Again to the waiting room. Lots and lots of waiting. Finally another nurse walked me into a room with a bed. "Great. This is going to take longer than I thought." She gave me a TV remote. She then gave me a pill to take and stuck a needle in my wrist to check my blood again. It was painful. Then I had to give them a urine sample which was gross since I was on my period. I turned on the TV and watched Big Bang Theory. The first episode was fun, but almost 2 hours of waiting for someone to check on me was stressful. There was a sign on the wall that said lab results take 90 minutes and if you feel like you're waiting to long then feel free to ask what's going on. The front desk people seem to just brush me off by saying "I'll check with your nurse." and then nothing. A new nurse walked in. "Hello, I'll be taking over. I'll be your nurse for tonight." My heart dropped. "Oh no. How much longer will I be here?" I asked. She shrugged, "I don't know." That seemed to be the popular answer... I don't know... And then she rolled me into another room to have my thyroid ultrasound. It was freezing. The ultrasound nurse rolled me back into my room. As soon as the nurse walked out the room. I called my husband and son. I really missed them. I was annoyed the reception sucked so I couldn't video chat. I told my husband that I have no idea when I'll be going home and started to cry. I could tell my husband felt bad for not taking it serious the night before. He asked if I wanted him with me, but I told him no since I didn't know what the covid restrictions were anyways. Speaking of masks, I have been wearing mine for almost 8-9 hours by this point. I was so done with my mask that I just left it hanging on my ears. I imagine that they sterilize the rooms after people leave. Finally the Dr came in. He told me he was going to get a prescription ready for me and they I would be discharged. He explained to me to follow up with my Dr and that I might have to see a specialist in the future. Once I had my prescription, I ran out of there so fast. I cried the whole way home. I don't understand why I have to be dealing with this. I hope that I can learn how to ease my hyperthyroid symptoms with supplements because I don't want to have to be taking a ton of meds. I am absolutely floored by how my boss treats the crappy workers better than the hard workers.
He often complains how bad someone is at their job. However he doesn't confront her often because she gets all upset. The last time he said something to her, she got mad at me because she figured I complained about her and of course our boss doesn't think negatively of her. That's what she thinks, but he complains to me about her everyday. He even asked for someone else's resume "just in case." Yet he complains how he would love to fire her, but he feels sorry for her because she's the only one that works in their house. So we will be short staffed in January. He asked me to get temporary help. That's what I did. Once I gave him all the information, he was upset by the cost. He then complained about 2 people in our office that are always on their phones and not doing their work. So he doesn't want to hire someone to make them work harder however I'm going to be the one working my ass off. My anxiety has been crazy bad the last couple of weeks. Rapid heart beat, migraines, blurred vision... etc. I don't know how I'm going to handle it. I guess I just need to try to stress less. I will just have to do my job and fill in as much as I can. If that means I work during my lunch and late after work... Hey, at least I'll get more money right?
At the corporate office we would have staff meetings that just focused on how to stop cancellations but I didn't feel like it was the right way. We were forced to tell sick people to still come to their dental cleanings or we would charge them for short notice cancellation. My supervisor was absolutely controlling. She would print the schedule before I started confirming and would take note of how many people cancelled their appointments. The most dramatic was a patient I called after checking her insurance and noticing that it was inactive. I called her initially to see if she had new insurance. Not only did she not have insurance, but she just found out she had cancer and was extremely sick. She told me that just drinking water made her vomit. Surely you would agree that it would be inhumane to force this patient to come to her appointment, so we rescheduled her.
The next day my supervisor let it rip. She told me that was completely unacceptable and that that patient should have still made it to her appointment. This is absolutely heartless... and not the way to treat patients. It's really important to make a patient feel like they are important, but on the flip side, a patient must understand that the Doctor's and staffs' times are also important. With Covid19, we had to close our office for 2 months to stay at home and practice social distancing. We would have a limited staff go in once a week to see emergencies. I had to reschedule 2 months worth of patients which results in us being way booked out. Patients were used to getting in within a couple weeks for a cleaning. This has changed dramatically and now we are booked out for months. I've been in my current office for 6 months and I've gotten to know patients well as far as how they like to schedule. I know who to call when I have a last minute cancellation and need someone to come in within an hour or two... and I also know the ones that are notorious for cancelling last minute. One girl has cancelled her 2 hour appointment so many times and nothing was getting through to her. I normally give warnings and state that the next time I will charge $50 / hr but I really try not to actual charge someone that amount. This girl wasn't getting it. The next time she cancelled, I send a letter with a $100 charge and stated I would waive it if she showed up to her appointment. I texted her 2 days before instead of the day before to confirm her appointment. I was shocked she replied right away because normally she'd wait to reply the day of her appointment to cancel. I was so happy when she actually made it to her appointment!! She probably has wasted more than 10 hours of Doctor's time due to all her cancelling. So what is my protocol? 1.) 1-2 warnings clearly stating the fee and that it was been written off 2.) Let patient know you'll write it off after they make it to their appointment 3.) Dismissal If your doctor doesn't agree with this kind of protocol then they obviously don't value their own time so why should you value it? Also, don't feel bad for letting a patient know that they should have given more notice especially when so many people are trying to get in. When a patient cancels last minute and wants to reschedule, don't reschedule them for an appointment next week... schedule them out at less a month a let them know you are booked up. If they ask to be put on the short call list let them know you will, but don't let that person be your first option when you're filling cancellations. I honestly try to avoid calling these people. Some of these things might sound extreme but I have been successful with lower our cancellation rate. I am seriously floored most days by the comments my coworker makes. She is not clinically trained in dental therefore she does not understand why most treatment is important. She will constantly talk patients out of treatment because they do not have enough dental benefits.
Today a boy called at 2:57pm ish to cancel his 2 hour filling appointment for 3pm today. He said he had a headache. She was going to cancel him no questions asked. Then he decided that he had a tooth that was bothering him so he just wanted to get that looked at. Instead of explaining to him how important it is to try to keep his treatment and how it's really last minute, she agreed. Now our afternoon is completely bare because he was our only restorative patient for the afternoon. He is 15 minutes late on top of all this. When he's done he just says "Thank you," and walks out the door. I assumed we just adjusted a filling which is a no charge procedure. The assistant stated that they didn't and the patient basically just wasted Dr's time because he didn't really need treatment. However, Dr did look at him which means he did an exam. So I asked the Dr "Would you like to charge him for an emergency exam?" Keep in mind, he was originally scheduled for a $1000 appointment and an exam is around $100. The financial coordinator, miss dental wiz, turns to me and says "We can't. He only gets 2 exams a year." ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Who cares what the insurance covers? He came in and took Dr's time so he should be charged for it. She used to work in a different state and memorized a lot of the dental frequencies that they mostly used so she just assumed he got 2 exams covered by the insurance. I told her that that insurance normally covers 2 routine exams plus 2 emergencies. She didn't believe me... She started dinking around trying to prove me wrong. I went online and BAM I was right! 2 routine exams and 2 emergencies. She is really slow and not bright in general. Must be the old age... but I am so sick of her trying to prove me wrong when I proved time and time again that I know way more than her. I wish she would retire or Dr. would fire her, but that won't happen. Are you guys watching Good Girl on Mnet? If not... WHY? The line up alone should have you hyped! Unpretty Rapstar season 1 winner, Cheetah, is an awesome rapper and vocalist. She used to be pursueing a singing career but due to an accident she gave up on singing and took on rapper. She has been on the Korean version of Masked Singer and her vocals are as amazing as her rapping. Ailee! Seriously...? Need I say more!! She is one of the best vocalists in Korea at the moment. Jiwoo from Kard. I'm a new Hidden Kard. As you probably know I'm a Monsta X fan and BM from Kard is constantly talking about Wonho and Shownu so I naturally wanted to check the group out. All their songs are bops. I fell for BM a little, but after this last episode... I might have a little crush on Jiwoo! Watch out BM! Last week I saw Queen WA$ABII perform for the first time ever. At first I was thinking what the F*ck is this? She is definitely not like those Kpop girls you love. Far from it. After listening to this song once I was hooked. Why the heck is this song so catchy!? Below is the music video for 안녕 쟈기 (Hi Baby)... Check it out. I'm looking forward to watch else her crazy ass will do. So... This week? Like I was saying above... BM's got some competition with Jiwoo yo! She definately brought out those sexy vibes and she was one of the 4 girls that scored a perfect score from the other girls on the show. Jiwoo performed "Take You Down" by Chris Brown. I feel like in Kard, she doesn't sound her full vocal potential so seeing this performance was awesome. Her vocals and rap tone are perfect for this song. All of the audience and fellow contenders commented how strong and sexyher glare was. Below check out "Red Moon" by Kard. This song is what pushed me into being a Hidden Kard! It's catchy as heck! I really love watching Korean singing competition shows. Before this show came out, I enjoyed watching Queendom. Queendom was a Korean competition show with 5 top Kpop girl groups, plus Veteran power Vocal, Park Bom. They would perform different songs to prove who was at the top. It was exciting to watch because all of them were successful performers. When they talked about making a male version, I was excited to see the top male groups battle it out. However, in chats a lot of people were mentioning names of artists that were not super popular, fairly new, or just under the radar. I was disappointed. What was the point of making a male version if it was going to be way different? I watched the first episode of Road to Kingdom last week and wasn't crazy excited. A lot had to do with the fact that I didn't know the groups well, but I saw this as an opportunity to get to know new artists. When they talked about making a male version, I was excited to see the top male groups battle it out. However, in chats a lot of people were mentioning names of artists that were not super popular, fairly new, or just under the radar. I was disappointed. What was the point of making a male version if it was going to be way different? I watched the first episode of Road to Kingdom last week and wasn't crazy excited. A lot had to do with the fact that I didn't know the groups well, but I saw this as an opportunity to get to know new artists. This week, I was blown away from the first performance. Oneus opened the show with H.O.T's debut song 전사의 후예 (Warrior's Descendant). Out of these groups I probably am the most familiar with Oneus songs than the other groups. I really loved how they all have very different voices. The rappers did not change the rap line yet it sounded so different and fresh. H.O.T's song originally came out in 1996 and the boys in Oneus were born between 1995-2000 so it really shows how much impact H.O.T had on the Kpop industry way before it was cool. Here is the original song by H.O.T: Only 5 out of the 7 groups performed this week and I really loved 3 performances. Oneus, Too, and Golden Child. I'm curious to see how my feelings will change next week after The Boyz and Pentagon perform. Too is the newest group in the line up and they really did well performing Rising Sun by TVXQ, but Golden Child's version of T.O.P by Shinhwa was amazing. What I really loved about it was that the concept of the outfits were similar and they even kept the choreograph of the original. I really fell in love with Y's vocals~ It really reminded me of Shinhwa's vocal king, Hyesung! |
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March 2018
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