My favourite Whatsapp sticker
Not on duty, I'm on annual leave, 'nuff said. You know, according to the government, if we don't drop below 4,000, the lockdown is going to continue ( and so are these Lockdown 3.0. Diaries)
I haven't been out for a long time except for work and essential shopping. I get it, for extroverts/social butterflies, it's difficult. People who love going out seem to find themselves being suffocated, but for us introverts, it's a relief. If you give me a choice, I would prefer to work from home (Pretty much half of my life is spent on Microsoft Word, but due to the lockdown diaries challenge, I'm temporarily here for the moment) but healthcare workers are not given the choice, because everything we do is legal and P&C, and we can only access the system in our office, so we still have to show up. One thing in my line of work is you can never predict what's going to happen.
People often asked: How do you know everyone well? Well, I was a runner for years. I cover everyone, every department, every clinics. As long as there's a shortage of hands, I have to cover. During these times, it was exhausting, tiring, and I have to check my roster everyday, and I can't be too comfortable because changes tend to happen last minute, but as I always said, I'm grateful, because when I was shifted to a more customer support orientated job, this is when the knowledge of various departments and networking comes into play. When you need help, it's easier because you know everyone, and everyone knows you. Never knew that the networking came in handy.
I gotten the chance to sit in with the operators at the switchboard room during night shifts before I was not allowed to roam to other department due to the ongoing pandemic, and let me tell you: Respect. Phones kept ringing, if they can handle, they handle the calls, but what amaze me was during an emergency. At that time, I have no idea that the emergency phone is separate from the general line, and it is loud. Usually during night shifts, it's tiring, and sometimes, you tend to doze off a little due to the long hours, but when that phone rings, everyone leaps into action. One person will answer the call, and once they took down the details, before announcing it via the PA system. I asked them: "Don't you all feel terrified (especially during Code Blue)?" The answer: Yes, they do. This is why they will take a minute to compose themselves, especially when their heart is pounding hard before announcing so that they don't panic or stutter, because when your thoughts are scattered all over, chances are you may end up announcing the details wrong. During an emergency, every second count. Oh, the switchboard is not as fancy as you think. There's no way they can backtrack a call, because they don't have the fancy tech for it. So we still have to do it the old fashioned way, take a pen and paper and take down the number.
Why do people call at night to make appointments? Genuinely why? No one is going to wake the doctors in the middle of the night, I cannot imagine calling my doctors in the middle of the night telling them, "Hello, can I refer a new patient to you?" Not only it is plain silly, but expect my doctors to give me a long lecture on non-emergency calls (AKA taking the violin and singing songs, and if they want to go more aggressive, add in the speakers) As I have mentioned several times, you are not going to go through several channels to make an appointment. It's a little silly, and by the time we get to the designated person, people could have changed their mind. It happens, usually at the height of the moment, people will be demanding to see the doctors NOW, but once they have the chance to calm down, sometimes they will go: "Oh, it's okay. I'm not in pain anymore. You can cancel my appointment." At times, it makes you feel like a fool, because it is not easy to get through phone calls. Everyone is busy, and I have stressed this several times, you are not going to go through several different channels to get an appointment.
Due to the pandemic, yes, we do encourage everyone to stay at home, but if you require urgent treatment for illness, then yes, you're encouraged to go the nearest healthcare facilities for the care you require. What I can never understand is patients (mostly new cases) will said that they are scared to come to the hospital due to the pandemic and insist on online consultation or phone consultation. First of all, online consultations are mainly for follow up cases. For a brand new case, it is extremely difficult to gauge from the PC. Second, not all cases are suitable for online. Third, nobody would ever consult a person through the phone, because of medico-legal issues. Ever since I got shifted, I noticed people love to ask me, "Based on your experience, what do you think of the treatment/ diagnosis/ outcome?" I never trust people over the phone, because what I hear could be different when the patient comes in real life for assessment. Besides, my doctors had always warned me to never, ever act too smart. Let's just say based on your symptoms, more or less I think it's Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, I can't say: "Oh, you have CTS." Hell no. I would suspect it could be, but I maybe wrong, this is why you need to see the doctor to get a proper assessment done.
One thing I could never understand, people demanding for the doctor's personal handphone. I'm sorry, but there is no way I'll ever give you the doctor's personal number, and certainly not our personal number, because people had no boundaries. Let me tell you, when I was a junior who didn't know any better at that time, I foolishly gave my mobile to a patient. I had to block them in the end after a week because they called me every single day, every hour. Even when I'm not on duty, they will call me and said things like no one came to attend them. Um, what do you want me to do? I'm not on duty. The same goes for the doctors' handphone. What I heard was patients tend to misuse the number given because somehow, they think they have their own personal doctors, meaning they will message, call for every thing. It's scary.
Because the news and messages had been stressing me out lately, I have muted all my notifications. So if I didn't respond to you on time, please don't get mad.
*Today's case: 4,743 (Mm, can we go down some more?)
**Currently listening to Social Repose - Calamity Full Album Playlist. It's nice. Quarantine period really had me scouring around for new songs to listen to besides J-Pop (Needed to expand my music playlist). Once the pandemic is over, I really want to go back to karaoke.
