Saturday, June 20, 2009

Totally true...I SWEAR!

Okay...settle in...this is a bit long, but worth the read... If this hadn't happened to me I wouldn't believe it so don't feel bad if you have to comment me and ask..."Are you fucking kidding me?"...

Here goes...

On Friday we had a patient call asking about his medication that was supposed to be called or faxed in to us...he's a new patient. We had nothing on file, sent or called in. He was mad (I know, I know...it's my fault...). About 45 minutes later my tech, Mary (yes that's her name...I wrote it...so ease up when you're reading it Mary...there are lots of people named Mary...it's not like I posted your fingerprint!!), says "There's a rude nurse on the line asking for a Pharmacist". I pick up the line and Mary is right, the nurse is really rude...and PSYCHO! The nurses name is Crystal (yes that's her real name too...). Crystal tells me that my tech is incompetent and so am I and that is why we work where we do...then tells me she's going to give me a prescription for a patient and she wants it filled right and soon because he is going to be there that evening. This is how the rest of our conversations (yes...that is plural...) went:

Me - Don't insult my staff or the company I work for.
Crystal - Just take the prescription - it's for...
Me - (interrupting)...Did you hear what I said?
Crystal - Shut the fuck up and take the prescription you...CLICK (that's me hanging up)

...about 5 minutes later Crystal calls back...I answer (lucky me)...

Crystal - I want to speak to the Store Manager.
Me - (pretending I don't know who she is) I'm sorry, you've reached the Pharmacy and we have dedicated lines...you'll have to call the store.
Crystal - Who is this?
Me - (I give her my name)
Crystal - You hung up on me! I want to speak with the Store Manager!! (yelling)
Me - Yes I did because of your language. You can call the store and speak to the Manager as much as you want but he has no authority in my Pharmacy.
Crystal - Give me the number.
Me - I'm sorry, I don't have that number...but I'm sure you can get it from 411.
Crystal - I'm gonna fucking CLICK (that's me hanging up)

...so...now I'm annoyed (I was entertained a little at first)...and I page the Physician...

...about 2 minutes later I get a call from an Assistant Manager in the store...

Assistant Manager - Hey, I've got some Doctor on line 2 that wants the name and number of your boss.
Me - Really (this must be the Doc I paged...)? Transfer him back.
Assistant Manager - Okay.
Assistant Manager - He doesn't want to talk to you...

Me - I paged him to call me...

...my tech interrupts me to tell me there's a Doctor holding for me...says he was paged...

Me - (to Assistant Manager)...hold on...
Me - (to Doctor holding on our line) How may I help you?

....now it gets juicy...

The Doctor on my Pharmacy line is the one I paged...the person saying he's the Doctor on line 2 in the store is the person Crystal had call in to impersonate the Doctor she works for. YES! I SHIT YOU NOT!!! (...Jerry Springer is coming to mind right about now...). So the real Doctor and I have a little chat...he gets to find out what his nurse has been up to. You can imagine his delight at having someone impersonating him. He apologizes multiple times. I think he was really embarrassed. He tells me that he thinks she has gone home for the day but will address it on Monday immediately. About this time a fax comes through for the patient Crystal was calling me about...hot off the press...so I tell the Doctor "No, I think she is still there because I just received a fax from her for your patient." Now he's really pissed because he had written it that morning... He abruptly ends our call with another apology and thanks saying that he's going to call the back line to his office...

Can I get a poll from you readers? Who thinks Crystal is going to have a job after Monday?

11 comments:

Lovely, CPhT said...

Wow. What a great story! Especially the part where she got some random dude to call and pretend to be the doctor, and the real doctor was on the other line! Can you say BUSTED?

If there is a god, this disgrace to the nursing profession will be out on her ass come Monday!

"Ms. Mean" said...

Oh please. Oh please. Oh please!!! Please let there be a God!!!

Phathead said...

Shit, I think you should call on Monday and ask if Crystal is working just for shits and giggles.

Andrea said...

Wow. I have yet to have any doc's representatives swear over the phone. As much as I would hope that this would get her canned, she probably has her own sob story and still has the job...for now.
You did inspire me to blog about one of my most recent nurse stories today, but your story takes the cake.

Filet-o-bitch RPh said...

What a bitch! I don't thing their education is any better than ours. Nurses so get on my nerves at times but I gained much respect for several in the recovery room after my surgery. So I guess not all of them, or us, suck for that matter. What a crazy nutball.

Unknown said...

Ughhhhhhhhhhhhh I can't STAND people like that!!!!!

Good for you for standing up for yourself & your employees... I'm a technician, and a lot of pharmacists I've worked with would just suck it up, as if I want to continue working in a place where my boss allows people to verbally abuse and harass me.

Good LORD I hope she doesn't have that job anymore.

Pharmer Jane said...

Good for you for hanging up on her! You're right, that story sounds like something that could only be made up--who actually acts like that??

Tamzid said...

i hope that bitch doesnt have a job after that lol

EDRNKaren said...

She should lose her job! It is ridiculous to treat people that way, especially one professional to another in healthcare. This is the behavior we expect from drug seekers, not colleagues. Unbelievable.

and yes, I am sure that you pharmacists get annoyed with us! We often find it easier to "call pharmacy", than to look it up ourselves. Guilty of that, but not rudeness.

Thanks for linking the blog, Filet- I am adding Ms Mean to my faves!!

Just a little snarky said...

I can't believe that an RN was acting like this. Crystal was probably some Nursing Assistant. BTW, I asked my doctor's NA how much school they need. She said, "Oh we're in and out in 3 months."

WTF?? And they let these people give actual injections?

yamiblue990 said...

your very amusing. adding you to my blog file. perfect to read between classes.