My job

This is a late night, tired and frustrated post. I'm laying here, about to fall asleep (cuz I'm friggin tired), but I need a little release. I will say that this weekend has been one of the busiest weekends at work I've had in a long time. I've already expressed this to a few people, but I need to blog it out. Ok, if you don't know, I work most weekends down in Sandy Springs at a specialty and emergency clinic. My job is entitled, "Staff Emergency Doctor." I see emergency cases that walk in or are referred over by other private practice veterinarians, and I have the job of training interns (ie. fresh graduates). Teaching others, whether it be owners or interns, is something I truly enjoy doing. But, it can be quite frustrating too. Annie I'm sure you and the other teachers understand. As their supervisor, I get a little bothered when proper care (or sometimes just plain common sense) isn't taken. But I have to hold back the "you blew this one" comments, and try to gently correct them and hope they don't make the same mistake twice. Completely belittling them, though tempting, is not the way to build up a new doctor. Although sometimes I wish I could be more like the sarcastic doctor on Scrubs and make fun of them every chance I get. But I can't.

But the thing I have to remember is that I was once in their shoes, and not too long ago in fact. Eyes wide open, pupils dilated, heart racing and the feeling of, "oh crap," rushes through your head, as multiple emergencies come walking through the door. Some are very critical, some are the easy emergencies. But still, it is overwhelming. At this particular clinic, when there is an emergency, the receptionist calls on the overhead speakers, "Emergency, your next patient has checked in." I used to cringe everytime I heard their voice! I would say to myself, "Nooooooo!"

Anyway, back to the point of it all, was I that inept in what I was trained to do?! To put it bluntly and honestly, was I that stupid?! Answer...probably. Actually, probably more so. You learn as you go. And the exciting thing is that I/we will continue to learn new things. Mistakes will be made, no doubt. Don't dwell on it. Learn from it and be dang sure it does not happen again. Encouragement is the key. Tell them things they are doing right and then bring up the things they really didn't handle the right way. I have one patient right now that I'm hoping survives. Proper care was not taken and this dog's life is hanging in the balance. Granted, it has an awful underlying condition, but I have to wonder if his situation would be a little bit better if a different approach would have been chosen. But I held back the idiot comments and tried to correct them in a non-attacking way.

Words have the power of life and death. This is so true in every avenue of life. Train them and BUILD THEM UP. Kids these days don't need more ridicule and comments of inadequacy. They need encouragement. WE ALL NEED ENCOURAGEMENT. Wherever you are in life, sharpen one another. Speak life and purpose.

I know this is kind of a random post, but I felt it needed to be said. I just hope my mind, which is working on about 3-4 hours of sleep, made it comprehensible.

Grace and peace.