I had a weird momentary feeling when I attended a recent all-provider meeting.
I looked around and didn't know anyone. All of the colleagues with whom I worked for the last ten years were gone. It was a sea of unfamiliar faces. The one medical provider that I know is still around wasn't there.
For a rather melodramatic moment, I remembered those old movies about the Battle of Britain; RAF pilots getting together to drink after a day of air combat, and remarking on how few of them are left, the old gang gone for good.
That's stretching the point a bit, but it's how I felt.
I don't know how much longer it's going to be before I'm gone.
One of my former colleagues is working over at our cross-town rival. I think I'll give her a call and see if she's happy there...
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...in 2013, so as not to be bought out by a hospital corporation which would then tell us how to do our jobs. Each practice would remain independent, and do things the way we wanted. Sounded good at the time. It hasn’t turned out exactly as “advertised,” however. Now we have the consortium telling us what to do.
I can totally relate to your words about your practice not caring about their providers. The consortium is soooooooo worried about happy customers, which is, of course, important, that it feels as if they do not care one little bit about whether or not their employees are happy. Parents seldom have to wait more than 2-4 hours for a same day sick appointment, which is a really quick turn around time. We are always told that we need to do better. I have heard our front desk personnel apologize to someone who calls at 11:30 because we do not have an appointment available until 1:15. I do not think that is something for which one should have to apologize.
I have worked for my practice for 23 years - it will be 24 in June. Until the consortium, year evaluations were fairly casual - “Everyone’s happy, you do a great job, keep it up.” Since the consortium, there is now a standardized form that my boss fills out, and a self assessment I must do. It wants to know my strengths and weaknesses, what goals I have for the coming year, what improvements I would like to make. Since this standardization, I am told that I “meet standards,” but do not exceed them. I work my ass off, so this is surprising, and insulting. When I asked about this, and told my boss that in the military, if you only meet standards, that means they think you suck, she told me that the criteria for exceeding standards were so high that almost no one could achieve that lofty status. To have standards so high that you have no expectation of exceeding them seems pretty harsh.
I’m 68. I plan to retire by the time I am 70. Truth be told, my main goal a this point in my career is to hang on until then, and continue to deliver compassionate and high quality care in the face of ever-increasing demands. I am not particularly interested in developing new areas of expertise.
In 2009, my boss informed me that ,after no raise for 3 years (the practice went thru some tight times, so OK), they were granting a small one, and it would be the last one I would ever get because I had reached my compensation max. The raise was 65 cents an hour! Not even a damn dollar. I almost quit. The main reason I did not was the restrictive covenants that keep you from accepting a new position within a certain distance from the practice you are leaving. NP jobs are fairly few and far between around here, and I did not and do not want to have to drive an hour to get to one.
Evaluation time is coming up. I plan to ask my boss if she remembers how long ago it was that she told me I should never expect another raise, and if she thinks that and the idea that I will never exceed standards are motivating factors. I’m guessing she has not given this a thought.
If you can find something better, GO FOR IT!
