"You're famous"

Week 3. Wow, time is freaking flying by. My confidence level has risen tremendously since I first showed up here. I think I am actually starting to pass for a real PT! I've been approached numerous times already this week by nurses, residents, techs, patients and family members with requests and questions! My favorite example happened yesterday afternoon. My CI was finishing up a progress note and told me to go ahead to the next patient, whom was my new eval, so that I could go start the chart review. On my way one of the medical residents on the floor literally chased me down. (Apparently she was trying to get my attention from down the hall, and when I didn't stop she ran me down.) When she caught up with me she first apologized for not remembering my name, then began to give me a synopsis of a patient in the east wing of that (her) floor that was being discharged home that day. She had forgotten to write up a PT consult that morning and asked if I didn't mind doing a quick discharge eval. Ha! It threw me off at first cause in my head I'm thinking, "Wait I'm just a student, you need to talk to Amy." But instead I 'put on my big girl pants' (as my dad would say) and proceeded with, "Ok, sure what room # and name? Ok, sounds good, but before I can see her you'll need to be sure to add an order for PT in the system. Legalities, ya know." "Ok, of course. I'll put it in right now," she responded, "Thank you so much. I'm so sorry to catch you like this, I really appreciate it though."  "Not a problem at all!"  

HAHA!! Imagine the smile on my face as we parted ways! I went on to my new eval and proceeded with the chart review and gave my CI the run down on this other patient, when she got there. Well, we got everyone seen and at the end of the day when we got back to the office, my CI checked the fax and found the consult for that surprise patient. It read "Spoke about PT evaluation for discharge needs as per PT Amanda. 8/31/10" I didn't know what it had said at first, my CI just laughed and said "you're famous" as she passed the consult around the office for the other ladies to read. When I finally saw it I couldn't help but laugh too! Grinning ear to ear, I slid it into my bag and told them I was keeping this one! Haha!

Another good one was while I was sitting at a computer outside one of our only scheduled patient's room. I came up to her room to so that I could type up an evaluation I'd done that day. I forget why my CI wasn't with me at the time. But anyway, it was like 2:00 and the patient whose room I was outside of was scheduled daily to receive pain meds at 2:25ish so as to be ready for PT by 2:30.  So I'm there minding my own business, writing up this eval, when a nurse walks up asking me if she missed something and she was late with delivering the medications. Told her no she was fine, that I was just taking some time to finish some paperwork. "Ok well just page me when you're done and ready to go in and I'll give her her pain meds." I don't know, may seem minuscule to you, but to me it gave me a small sense of authority or importance, or whatever, made me feel good! :) 

Anywho, enough of "tooting my own horn."   :)