Friday Night Wine-Buzz. Ask me anything...

[3catwoman3]

5. I am away from the pediatric office...

...this week (visiting my mom, who just turned 96), and I don't miss it one little bit. It will soon be summer check up season - school, camp, and sports physicals. It always exhausting. Especially the teenage girls - they have headaches, stomach aches, stress interferes with their daily lives, etc, etc, etc. Appointments are 20 minutes long, which is no where near long enough to address a laundry list of concerns, so I am always behind.

A couple of years ago, I finally wised up to a better way to conclude a visit. I no longer say, "Any questions, " as.. all too often, that opens up the dreaded, "by the way, as long as I'm here" Pandora's box. I now say, any questions about today's discussion.

Very recently, I changed how I ask the Review of Systems. There is one mom who answers "yes" to pretty much every question. "Any nosebleeds?" Yes, he had one 6 months ago." Now, I get very specific - "Related to this illness, this appointment, has there been any...". I think it helps. Never too late to learn a new trick.

I would do well baby visits all day long if I could.

I have been a peds NP for almost 42 years. It's getting really close to the time to call it quits. My employers want 18 months notice of retirement plans. I don't know what I'm having for dinner tomorrow. How the hell do I know what I will want to do in 18 months?