At the Desk: Easy Target

I am the front line.

I am the face that you see when you register for almost any department here at the hospital. I am the voice that answers the phone. I am the face you see when you are leaving. I am the closest thing for you to yell at when you feel your wait is too long.

I am an easy target.

Here is something I will tell you about myself, not Dee the hospital employee, not Dee the woman you know from the internet, the real life Dee. I am a pushover. Big time. I hate confrontation, I care way too much what people think of me and I am a people pleaser. I would rather sit alone and cry for days and weeks than to tell someone that they hurt my feelings or than to stand up for myself. This is a trait that I have tried to change and I am slowly getting better but that is the way I am. (I blame it on being the youngest of the family and doing whatever I could to get my sisters to play with me or accept me)

Being at this desk makes all of us easy targets. This is where people let out their frustrations. This is where they feel it is appropriate to yell and scream and threaten. They do not do this to the doctor because he has the meds, they do not do this to the nurses because they have the power, they do this to us because all we do is sit here and take it.

This does not only apply to patient, this applies to the people who work in the hospital. If we are not moving quick enough for them, they yell. If a minor mistake is made anywhere, it becomes our fault. If a patient is late and we are doing everything we can to get them registered and sent to that department quickly, we are too slow.

Most days I sit here and let people speak to me like I am an idiot, like everything is my fault. I let people scream at me and yell at me and I just apologize and fix whatever problem they are having. I never hear a thank you.

Today, I hate my job.