"How Many Admissions Do You Want Me To Do This Weekend?"

A hush filled the room for a moment, even the phones quieted down momentarily. Before me were 7 admission packets. On a good day three is more than enough, seven? For a moment I thought if I just threw up all over them I could get out of this seemingly monumental task.

Then I thought, hmmm...pretty soon I'm going to quit this job, I can handle it. Then panic set in, when one of the names was an IV admission scheduled for tonight. I must have gone pale to the lips because my boss, Anne, started laughing. Yeah, buddy, go ahead and laugh! You're not the one doing SEVEN admits this weekend. SEVEN!

As it turns out the IV visit for tonight isn't...the patient will likely come out of the hospital tomorrow. Another one is Spanish speaking only, and even though multiple messages (and one in Spanglish) was left on their machine, they did not call back, so it's probably a no-go. The third and fourth are Medicares, but Medicare won't pay for IV medications so likely they won't be admitted either (but all could be, you never know till it happens.)

The rest are set up for visits. Mind you one or two, even three admits in a day are a lot of work. It's a good 3 hours of paperwork per person, and if it's an IV plus teaching someone in the home to administer the IV, add another hour on. Generally I get the forms signed, read them the riot act from Medicare (you MUST be homebound, you may only leave home for doctor visits...you may only....you must not...blah blah blah pfffffffftttttttttt!!) then finish the wad of paperwork at home.

So, who knows. All the patients might be admitted over the weekend, or they might not. I might get extra calls for catheter problems, IV problems, dressings that have fallen off, any number of things to deal with between all these admits, or it might be a walk in the park...one thing for sure, I'll find out tomorrow...

I'm praying for the walk in the park scenario.

;)