I’d be glad to work every Saturday!
Just imagine it with me.
It’s a busy day. I have half a dozen follow-ups, half a dozen new admits. Nonetheless, I don’t have to jockey for charts; I don’t have to fight for a computer. I just grab the chart and jot down a few notes, see my patients and write down a few more notes, sit down at a computer and write my official “note”.
I’ve got a lot of patients–enough to keep me busy all day–but without all the people that are around on weekdays, I’m twice as efficient. I eat lunch when I’m hungry, and enjoy a book while I eat–I can actually spend time alone at work. It’s amazing.
Then there’s the interaction with patients and staff. Weekends are a whole different game. Instead of a hundred assortedly garbed health care workers busily running about, anxiously buzzing, a skeleton staff does their work with quiet efficiency–but not so much efficiency that they can’t be decent to each other.
They say, “Did I hear you say you’re with dietary? Do you mind stopping in to see so-and-so? She was asking to talk with a dietitian.” A doctor, a nurse, and I confer briefly about a troublesome patient. Another nurse reassures me that she’s taking a tray in right now for the fellow I just saw, who was anxious because he hadn’t eaten yet. I chat comfortably with one of the environmental services workers as we walk the same hallway together.
It’s a nice change of pace. Comfortable, efficient, friendly. I really would love to work every weekend, if this is what weekends are like.