"Promotion?!"

I got "promoted" today! I use quotation marks around promotion because it's not exactly wonderful news. I work as a secretary/Cardiac IT assistant at a hospital's Cardiac Care Center. Over my year here I have observed and picked up some other people's jobs and covered for them when they were away. I was first hired as a secretary/office assistant, but after my first day one of the medical secretaries fell and broke her leg. That was my first "promotion!" After one day of training, I had to do the job for 6 months! If anyone has worked in a hospital or medical office, you know there is way more work than meets the eye! There is a big difference between a business office secretary and a medical secretary (I've done both! Both have a unique set of headaches), and any secretary in a medical setting does so much more than answer a phone and click a few buttons like most people think. It was intense work, but I survived and went back to being an assistant when the secretary returned.

Then, yesterday afternoon, the Cath Lab Medical Secretary was fired. Since I had sat with her a few times to get an idea of her duties, I was "promoted" again! It is becoming a running joke in the department that next I will be doing the procedures myself, since I have been stuck doing so many jobs!

While I am so grateful to be employed and should be happy, i cant help but be terrified. The Cath Lab is where patients go directly from the ambulance when they are having heart attacks. When we get word that someone is coming in, it's now my job to find out all the patient's information and get ahold of any previous cardiac procedures he or she has had. Visiting from out of town and had a previous cath in Las Vegas? You bet I'll be googling every hospital in the city and calling each one to try to get the records sent (for real, I've done it!) while the doctor is breathing down my neck. Along with heart attacks, every cardiac procedure gets scheduled and billed by me, all while I'm trying to secure anesthesia and make sure all doctors have the room they want! The job is stressful and complicated, and I have no formal training. Needless to say when I was informed of my "promotion" this morning, my first thought was panic. It took awhile, but I had to change my attitude to excited that I've been given the opportunity to prove myself, and muster up all the self confidence I can find. I stepped back for a moment and asked for patience and strength. Doctors can be very arrogant, and speak down to us "lower beings." I used to take it personally, but now I'm going to brush it off and do my best. You really can't ask for more than that!

So keep your fingers crossed for me that I can keep it together until someone gets hired to take the job permanently! And I apologize for the slight ramble-y-ness of this post. It's Friday and my mind has all but shut off. :)