Should I look at this as a challenge or as a PITA? (apply, interview)

[rlrl]

I am a psychiatric social worker and have been for many years. I certainly like what I do, am generally well liked (except by the company finance director and to this day i always wondered what i ever did to him to make him feel that way towards me)

however, unlike many social workers, I am not "social" and don't make a lot of speeches tho i certainly can if the venue is right

I am the admissions manager for my place. all my energies go toward interviewing new clients and opening up their clinical charts. when the work is completed the company can start to bill insurance so the company can get paid

although i am certainly the "go to" person when anyone has a question about a new client, i have so much paperwork that a good deal of the time i just end up telling the person asking me to "check the chart, it's in the report i wrote" not because i don't want to help them but because i honestly don't remember the client to be able to answer their question in a meaningful detailed way. too many details, i have other work as well, and at my place it's not the spoken word that gets us paid, it's the written word and what's documented that gets us paid (ex the bottom line).

well just today i got an e mail from at least 2 case managers CC'd to 2 managers that they would like to be provided verbally with "information" about all new clients who come in, either in the AM upon sign in or at the afternoon staff meeting

i sent an e mail to all parties stating that i was not sure if it was going to work. a few minutes later i got another e mail from one supervisor stating the case managers ideas were good and that they were going to implement it. a few minutes later i got another e from my direct supervisor (we get along quite well) telling all case managers and supervisors that i have already started doing that ( he probably said it to avoid an e mail clash )

problem is, i feel i'm not ready do do this. i am terrible talking in front of a staff meeting and if someone asks me about a new client who i have not yet seen or have seen but cannot remember the info, it's going to be awkward and embarrassing. furthermore if i do bring info on the new client to the meeting (which certainly is doable) and i'm asked info on the new client, leafing thru the papers looking for the info will be embarrassing. i will feel like i am a freaking librarian. and what am i supposed to do, tell 15 people "duh it doesn't say on this page, uh duh uh due...."

get the idea?

hey social workers have their issues too, and i'm home at the computer so i don't have to pretend to be perfect

so should i look at this as a potential for growth (I DO need to practice making public talks as i am topo introverted) or is everyone just riding roughshod over me?

[Peperosso]

If it was me and I worked there "x" many years I would be first asking myself why are they wanting to implement this now? Also are all their supervisors "your" Supervisor or do you work for the director? I also wanted to ask you if in your work do you have to apply to Hipaa guildlines and is this a Private walk in clinic or State longterm facility? In the hospital I work if all of your managers don't personally visit each patient there is no way everyone would get the patients information just because they want it or they are a physician or a manager. Major hipaa violations to worry about.
There is a couple of ways I think how I would do this if it were me.

I would first place a sign up sheet up front and to fill out when the patients come in with patients name, visit reason and the person they were here to see.
1. Email them all 30 mins prior to the afternoon meeting with the patients name, visit reason and the person they were here to see. If they want detail information then tell them to get the chart and look it up.

or

2. Bring the sign up sheet to the afternoon meeting they come in and just read it. Practice your public speaking, focus on a spot on the back wall and read out loud your sign in sheet that you filled out. I promise it will probably get easier to do each time you do it.

If it was me I would probably do the second one plus I would also bring the charts to the meeting with me to hand out to them when if they wanted more information about the patient, after a few meetings it would probably stop asking for the information since they want you to do all the work for them.

Good Luck.

[rlrl]

yesterday there was a bit of confusion in that a new client came in but no one knew who she was. i knew who she was and that she was expected in but the others weren't. so it could very well have come from that

yes their supervisors are also mine

this is a Continuing Day Treatment program

all clients, enrolled and new clients sign on daily sign in/sign out sheets with the time and place in which they reside

i already e mailed them which might work since i am a better e mailer than talker

i could give them the referral information but the problem is that if i ask them to read it it could be seen as facetious or rude

these people think that because i crank out good reports all day long it translates into being able to talk off the top of my head about the clients. they are wrong. and i'm concerned that if i do that (hand them the file) they could interpret it as "you are engaging in insubordination" and start using witnesses and write me up

it's one thing to tell them the name of the client and where they live, it's another to have to respond to "tell us about the client" not knowing specifically what they want

why do they want to implement it now? because the place is all about politics. if one of the supervisors personally likes the case manager who suggested it, they will implement it

[rlrl]

the same and i am the only person they are here to see

the sign in sheets get submitted to insurance for payment

because of my workload i don't even get a chance to sit down and interview the client on their first day

often it is assumed that i will but most of the time i don't(no one gives me any problem with that tho)

they claim the info will help them know who they are dealing with but it's silly, no one with a history of rape or axe murdering will be accepted to our place anyway. most of our clients all have the same run of the mill stuff and there's not much variation from one to the other they're so petty and silly

[rlrl]

and they suggested i talk about the new client for "about 5 minutes'. what can be said in that much time about a client who doesn't even have a chart yet, let alone hasn't even visited the program yet?

I am always afraid of them because of their tactics, making everything "look like insubordination" because they use witnesses whenever you happen to disagree with them

[Peperosso]

Does your computer system allow you to print out a "Facesheet" that usually has the patients information and the visit reason with symptoms? Our admissions program is "IDX" and it allows you to do it also it works with our "Powerchart" program which we can also print from, other than that I do not know another way unless you take the charts to the meeting with you with your own sign in sheet.

We no longer have paper charts, everything is done electronically with the exception of emergency orders, maybe someone else will provide you some more ideas, personally I hate work politics and I would have already been looking for another job.

[rlrl]

our facesheets don't include symptoms

the case mgrs who suggested this did so out of ignorance and misinformation, they really can't be faulted. they don't know any better

it's the supervisors that didn't bother to ask me for my side of things

it doesn't matter, i just e mailed my supervisor telling him that an "Agreement" was made at a meeting that i am supposed to give a 5 minute talk about new clients i haven't even met yet and don't even have a chart on. he is always reasonable and fair but i suspect he might be forced to kiss or worship *** lately, something he may have no control over

[rlrl]

hatred of the politics at work has been about 50% fortunately the other 50% of the job i still really like

i hate the politics so much i stopped attending any and all company functions (like holiday parties) because i was so aggravated with how people treated me and when people saw how i would not take their **** anymore they stopped treating me like ****

trouble is i a damned lazy a** who is afraid to make a change to better myself

i could go into more detail as to why but i'm too tired tonight to discuss it further

if anyone is interested in knowing more PM me and i will touch base sometimes this weekend

[TFW46]

I somewhat understand your situation. I've been painfully shy all my life but I never let that interfere with the necessity to give speeches when needed. It was part of my job and that was reason enough to do it without arguing. Because of my fear of performing, I always over-prepared my talks/speeches so well that everyone thought I was a "natural" at it. If I'd ever told anyone how shy I was, he/she wouldnt have believed it.

Have you considered taking a class in effective speaking, something like a DALE CARNEGIE course? Houston's Leisure Learning classes offer them at a very low cost; maybe your city has something comparable. It will truly benefit you in many ways, both personally and professionally.

You seem to have a lot of anger about certain aspects of your job. I have no advice that I think you'd accept for that.

[Koale]

Even though this may be a PITA... no doubt someone wanting to 'look good' to someone else... I would certainly be sure that everyone in each and every meeting be handed a printed version of whatever it is you need to relay to them verbally... don't leave any room for misunderstanding. Good luck.
Koale