Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Despite the fact that it was 65 degrees (20 C) on Thursday and Friday, today we woke up to this.   And this.  Sigh.  It's 40 degrees colder today.

6 inches of snow fell overnight making this morning's commute a little bit slower but overall, not too bad.  Philadelphia closed the schools today and as I sit here at my desk, I expect the phone to start ringing with people telling me they can't make it in today.   I'm surprisingly ok with that. 

Yesterday was an incredibly busy day.  I have clinic with two different doctors on Monday.  By "clinic" I mean I sit in on medication reviews and help individuals with any issues they may have with getting medications and I write treatment plans.  Our regulating body says that anyone receiving mental health services must have a treatment plan (which is updated three times a year times for the113 people who are currently on my caseload, which means I write a lot of treatment plans each year).  On Monday mornings, we have the clinic for people who have developmental disabilities and mental illness.  It's the toughest population I work with.  It's hard to find out how someone who is nonverbal feels.  I spend a lot of time on the phone with families and support staff for that one.

Monday and Tuesday afternoons, I work in a clinic for individuals with chronic and persistent mental illness.  These are not people who have a mild depression which is (or can be) situational.  These are people who have experienced profound changes in their lives due to mental illness like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and severe clinical depression.  Some people require a tremendous amount of support and some people are just bound and determined to make it on their own.  I do what I can to help them make that happen.  Sometimes I'm more successful than others.

Yesterday was a particuarly busy day with clinics full of people and I was so tired at the end of the day.  But, I am proud to report, we went to the gym and I spent 45 minutes making my body move.  I felt very virtuous when we got home, but damn, my body is sore this morning!

I have some notes to write from yesterday morning.  I have to put notes in the charts since my time for that clinic is billable time.  Most case management services are not billable but when an individual with developmental disabilities (or Intellectual disabilities as the new DSM calls it) then my time spent is worth money to the agency so I have to document it. 

After that, I have to go through the charts and get ready for this afternoon. There's another full clinic today if the weather doesn't keep people home.  I kinda hope it does (but don't tell anyone I said that)

How's your week progressing? 

7 comments:

roxie said...

Bless your dear heart! You're like a fireman or a policeman, going in everyday to do the harad work that needs to be done. You may not need a Kevlar vest, but you're still a hero!!

Saren Johnson said...

I'll be someone's lacky this week. So not looking forward to it.

Bells said...

your work does sound so interesting. A world apart from mine which today included getting in at 7am to scan the media for 'hot issues' relating to our Minister - a duty roster my team is on this week. Oh dear yawn. There were no hot issues.

Rose Red said...

Wow, busy day, I hope you did get cancellations to give you time for all that report making and note taking.

Me, just the usual, cooking, washing, dishes, playing with the baby, nappies, and a bit of knitting.

Galad said...

That is a busy day. Sleep well and start again tomorrow :-)

Alwen said...

It got up to 57 F here last Thursday, but last night's overnight low was 5!

It's not spring yet, but it's getting here.

Anonymous said...

so much to do, so little time, is how my works progressing. why is that planning a project is more work than actually DOING the project? and as someone who's been a 'client' in a service like yours, those people are lucky to have you.

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