Reflection #1

Cassandra Rohm

SSO 430-22

Deborah Ciocco

30 June 2023
 I’ve been working in the healthcare field for nine years. In that time, I have had countless

experiences along the way and have grown and changed with every shift worked. I started my

journey working as an EMT on an ambulance. I would take grandmas to their doctor’s

appointments and hold the hands of loved ones that were afraid during an emergency. I did that

work for three years and loved it until I didn’t. I needed a change.

I chose to change my path and become a medical assistant, which is where I find myself

now. Everyday I have the pleasure of using my innate skills to better another person’s life. Some

days are harder than others. The worst days are when you learn that a patient you’ve grown close

to has passed away and you are left comforting their wife or husband over the phone as they

thank you for helping them through that difficult time.

I’ve been cussed at over the phone and then two minutes later thanked by the same

person. Everyday is different. Not only do I have the challenge of working with the patients that

I care for, but also working alongside my coworkers. That is what I would like to focus on with

this reflection paper.

A couple of my classes here at Seton Hill have changed the way I interact with my

coworkers and has lead me to have a little more of a level head. It is no secret that not everyone

gets along and working in a fast-paced environment can make tension that much worse. As I

have taken my courses both here and at the community college, I have come to learn the value of

being able to step back and consider myself from a different angle.

Last Fall I took “Writing in Behavioral Health.” I had anticipated that the class was going

to be focused on writing SOAP notes and how to format an initial intake. I was quite mistaken.
Working through the prompts during the session I came to grow as a person and coworker. I

better honed my skills of problem-solving and had gained more awareness of myself.

This past week I have had to use some of those different skills during my workdays.

Within our office, each provider has a team consisting of a nurse, medical assistant, and medical

secretary. The team that I work with recently gained a new member when a medical secretary

was hired to work with us. She is older, likely in her sixties. She chose to take the position so she

was working regular hours with weekends and holidays off so she could enjoy her grandchildren.

Wonderful! Someone to give us a hand and complete our team. It was less than wonderful.

At the risk of sounding nasty and inconsiderate, our office is not a good fit for her. We

operate in a very efficient and effective manner and it takes a certain person to seamlessly join

the team. That aside, she is very kind and does try. Naturally, tempers have flared and emotions

have ran high and there has been tension in the office. Everyone is short-staffed as well, which

does not offer any relief. Often I am asked by our new addition how to complete various tasks,

sometimes multiple times. As easy as it is for me to become frustrated with her, I work to instead

take a breath and assist her with whatever she needs. I understand that being the new person is

difficult and entering an environment such as ours is even harder. I tend to consider what it was

like when I first started with my position and the difficulties that I faced. She’s feeling all those

same emotions that I had.

I’ve been working on myself to be more consider and compassionate and the best person

that I can be. I often find myself having discussions with my manager about the inner workings

of the office that I would not have talked about prior to the knowledge I’ve gained from my

schooling. One of the first courses I took here at SHU was “Contemporary Issues in Healthcare.”

This class focuses a lot on quality and not just the trouble within healthcare in regard to patient
care, but also with management. I was able to gain a different perspective and better understand

some of the ins and outs of managing a primary care office.

A situation came up a few weeks ago when I was extremely focused on patient care and I

didn’t want to take the time to consider the administrative issues of the situation. The office that I

work in is located within a hospital. Sometimes the provider will want to have labs drawn for the

patient while they are in the office. This sometimes happens because the patient has a hard time

getting out or they may not be the most compliant with follow-up. The workflow is that we call

registration and then the lab to have a tech come down to draw the blood. It is a little time

consuming, but at the end of the day it is for the patient’s benefit.

For a few months we would follow this routine, but we would often fax the registration

paperwork back with “verbal consent” written where the patient would sign because we received

the documentation too late. As a result of this, issues were starting to rise on the billing end of

things so clarification was made. We now had to wait for registration to send the paperwork

before we called the lab to collect the samples.

This change in workflow irritated me. It was no secret that there was often a delay in

getting the paperwork, which meant that a patient could be left to wait much longer than they

should. Another issue in the office that this could cause is tying up a room on a busy day. I went

to my manager and voiced my concerns and offered a solution. What if we kept downtime forms

in the office to use if there is too much of delay from registration? I thought this was a brilliant

solution as registration would have their paperwork signed and our patients could continue to

enjoy the convenience of having their blood work done in the office.
 Much to my dismay, I was not met with agreement on the subject. My manager said that

she ran it by the supervisor of registration and that it was something that wouldn’t be considered

and instead options were suggested that could help minimize the interruption of the day. I was

furious. I asked my manager again why we couldn’t implement this change and that it would be

better for patient care. She expressed to me that it came down to liability and billing and that if

something happened with the payment side of things it could fall back on the office. I paused.

My manager was right. I was so focused on patient care that I hadn’t thought to consider

the administrative side of the picture. I promptly apologized for my outburst and did mention that

I was so fixated on one aspect of the situation that I failed to look at the other side. I’ve since

made it a point to try and consider the decisions made from an administrative standpoint and not

just a patient care position. Of course, there are still procedures and policies that I disagree with

whether they be care centered or otherwise, but now I am able to better consider a situation and

react in a more effective and thoughtful manner.