Roles and boundaries

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If you are one of my lovely Twitter followers, you know that this past week at work was pretty rough.

My boss laid down the law with some of my co-workers regarding what he wanted me to be spending my time on at work, and what he did not (i.e. answering phones).

Translation for many of them: She thinks she's better than us.

I think I and everyone know deep down that is absolutely 110% NOT the case, but in the moment I guess feathers were super ruffled.

Angry, hurtful comments were shared. To my face, and within ear-shot.

Anyways, I am confident that this situation will blow over. They generally always do (until the next time ;)).

Basically what the situation boils down to, is that people in another role than me are pissed that I am not expected to do the same things.

I get it, I totally do, but as a Master's level social worker, there just are some things, some days that like it or not, are not within my scope of practice at that moment. (Note: the co-workers I am referring to are in entry-level positions that require a HS diploma).

Sometimes I realize I need to suck it up and do things I don't always want to do as far as work and some of my clients are concerned, but in terms of the office dynamic, there has to be a pecking order with certain duties.

Even if we are ALL over-worked and stressed.

And people don't have to like me or be my friend if I'm not doing what THEY want, or expect me to.

Do you ever experience things like this at your job?

What are some of the issues or duties that have caused tension with different level staff?

How have you dealt with it?

Accountable update

Just wanted to share that so far, I have completed 6 classes towards my 20 class hot yoga challenge for the month of February!!!

I feel great!!!

If you haven't checked out my addiction just yet, I strongly encourage you to try.

All you need to do is breathe :). I promise ;).

What are goals or challenges you are facing this month?

Happy Hump Day :)

Ways to make extra $$$$$

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Ha, I know as a social worker no matter where you live, this thought is probably always on your mind.

I know it's on mine, especially because we live in such an expensive area and DH is self-employed......sometimes it seems like a really long time will go by before he gets paid from a job, which means I feel broke all the time or find myself dipping into savings to make ends meet.

Since I work F/T and have a child, I personally don't want to get involved with some kind of P/T job where I need to leave the house and after taxes only bring in a small amount.

So with that said, the timing couldn't have been more perfect for this because it is already part of what I am doing at work anyways.......my agency has really begun to push bonuses if we can get a client approved for the programs I work for within 45 days. We will get $500.00 (pre-tax!) for that. If we bring someone new on within 60 days, they will reward us with $250.00 (also before taxes).

It really is a great incentive, when sometimes our efforts to go above and beyond can feel unrecognized, and the best, helps out in terms of savings and paying off some debt.

I haven't qualified for one of these in awhile, but my boss reminded me earlier this week (I think he knew I was stressed and overall employee morale has been quite low). I unexpectedly realized I qualified for a $500.00 one from a client I brought on back in November!! Reviewing the recent cases I had worked on, I also saw I would've made the $250.00 one for several clients, but was off a week past the 60 days each time.........so this does give me an extra push to stay on top of my work.

What are some things you do to make extra cash?

Does your agency offer any kind of financial incentive?

Wish me luck

My 20-days of hot yoga challenge for the month of February starts today. I am posting about it here to hold myself accountable.

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Sound familiar?

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Gaps in the system

What are some of the biggest gaps you come across with your clients?

Do any of them make your job more difficult because you find yourself having to take on certain responsibilities to an extent that really should NOT be yours to take on?

Or do you find yourself just spending more time in general on one client with an issue and as a result, neglecting others on your caseload?

For my clientele, the biggest problems I've been running into are no one to help manage a person's $$$ who cannot do so when they first come into the community (we can refer to APS but that's a big long drawn out process) and this also happens because family does not want the responsibility (which I totally get), lack of funds when a client first comes into the community setting from a nursing home (pantries only go so far, especially if you are on a specialized diet) and a HUGE gap.....there really are no agencies left anymore who are accepting clients who need weekly pre-pours and medication monitoring.

We've been referring to pharmacies to do blister pack deliveries but this can still be tough for many a client for a variety of reasons. Our staff are also not allowed to handle meds.

Some of our case managers have been dipping into their own pockets to help clients out financially when they first are discharged, but they can't afford to do this for long (even if our agency reimburses them), and not only that, it sets up a dynamic of dependence and entitlement from the very start which is NOT good.

It has also been suggested that our agency be a rep-payee for many a client, but that is highly unethical.


Regarding the pre-pours, some of our nurses have gotten stuck with that responsibility too, and it often creates problems and takes away from their regular duties and clients.


I always say that way back when some person designed the program I work for, they never thought of these needs to be implemented into the program and now they have exploded, sometimes making the job impossible, and also putting the client at risk.

In order for any major change to go through, it has to go through the government too, and you all know how fast that will happen......

Do you have any of these same issues? How have you dealt with them?

All suggestions (and venting too!) welcomed!

Rules of life............