Scheduling nightmares

As Lead Vet. Asst., it is my job to do the scheduling. What a headache! We are losing an Asst. in November due to pregnancy and I have to juggle hours to cover her shift. She opens, which means she takes in each day's surgeries. That involves a lot of important matters; paperwork and checking the pet for any other health problems.

Mabel opens two days a week and those days are hectic because duhduhduh Mabel forgets to check if the neuter has both testicles descended, the cat is current on vaccines, etc.

A major oversight by Mabel...a dog came in for a day of boarding. Mabel did not check the dog's general health appearance, did not ask about vaccines, did not have the owner sign the form accepting/refusing health and flea treatment, just grabbed the leash and set the dog up in a kennel. The dog had kennel cough and was infested with fleas.

Of course Mabel didn't ask the owner if his phone info was correct. It was not. The dog was moved to our Isolation area and the Vet. Assistants had to disinfect the entire clinic while the Receptionists spent the morning trying to track down the owner to get authorization for flea and kennel cough treatment.

Mabel wants to open every day. I'm trying to schedule the Assts. so Mabel doesn't open at all. Unfortunately, the only Assts who will do a good job opening are the one we're losing and myself. And I am NOT a morning person.

I get to bed around 2AM and really do not want to be on the clock at 6AM. Mabel refuses to work Wed/Thurs. Also doesn't want to work weekends. Another Asst. I'll refer to as Doris won't work weekends, won't work more than three days a week.

A third Asst. is the daughter of Doris, a great worker, but corporate prefers their shifts do not merge, meaning their schedules can't overlap where they work together. What a headache, but I get calmness from our Japanese garden and our feline family members.



This is
Katie Louise.