Who needs sleep?

It's 4:30am, and I'm sitting in the emergency department at one of the hospitals here in town. I've been here since 11pm. I'm not waiting to see a doctor or anything like that. In fact, I'm on the other side. I'm one of the medical professionals. I'm the social worker ... problem solver ... miracle worker ... transportation coordinator. I go by many names here. I'm on call for two different hospitals tonight which means from 4:30 pm until 8 am, I'm at their beck and call. Normally, I'll get called out for some minor things. Tonight was not one of those nights. However, those stories are not important. Forgive my rambling, it's been a long day and I've almost been up for 24 straight hours. I'm at 23.

I find the behavior of other medical professionals interesting in the hospital. Generally, social workers are seen as either super helpful or a waste of time. The opinions vary from person to person and especially situation to situation. If I agree with the doctor, social workers are great. If I don't agree or can't help (seriously, the patient lost their purse - I don't know where it is so stop asking), then I'm a waste of time. I feel that when I get called in for psych crises, medical professionals turn into vultures looking for a juicy story. Now, don't get me wrong, I love nurses and the other people here. They can be a social worker's best friend. I just don't have an appreciation for the way they talk about some patients or how the hover around when there's an "interesting patient". If CPS or APS is involved, they can't wait to hear what's going on. Suicide attempts, they always want to know the plan.

My problem with this is that we all know about HIPAA. Generally, health information is on a need to know basis. If it's not your patient, you don't need to know. If it is your patient, generally, you still don't need to know the specifics of what I'm discussing. It's confidential information. Granted, I understand that it's the middle of the night and it's boring. Emergency departments could be their own soap opera or tv show (oh wait, that was ER). Gossip is horrid here. I always feel bad when a patient pours their heart out to me and has had a tough life or experience and it turns into the latest fodder. I usually tell the doctor's what's happening and limit the amount of information that I share with the nurses. However, if it's a "juicy" story, soon everyone knows. It's a little upsetting. I need to work on how to answer when people push me for details.

But for now, I really would like CPS to call me back.