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desk as I took the first call. She asked for an
application as I patched the call through to a nurse on the Medicare wing. I
took an application from the drawer, a pen from a cup on the desk and attached
both to a clipboard, which I handed to her through the open sliding glass
window. She took a seat in the lobby and I turned my attention to the last
call.
     Dr. Gustapa demanded my name
and told me how he felt about having his call put on hold. I wanted to tell him
my time was just as valuable as his was, but I figured I could say the same
thing to my mechanical pencil and get the same reaction. I mumbled that I was
sorry, put the call on hold, and paged the unit waiting on his call. No doubt
he would speak to Phyllis about this and I’d get a tongue-lashing. I glanced at
the computer clock. It would be another fifteen minutes until Shantel arrived—an
eternity.
    A barrage of calls requesting
certified nurse aide training came in during the next ten minutes. They all
asked the same questions and the calls were a daily occurrence. You had to be a
very nice person to be a certified nurse aide, or a glutton for punishment. The
job was overwhelming and the pay was insulting for the responsibility of the
position. However, for the younger staff, I guess eight bucks an hour beat
minimum wage.
    The phones were quite busy, so
it was difficult to do much computer research. I called up Mr. Schroeder’s
medical record and went straight to the nursing notes. There was a daily
breakdown of his treatment, showing when he began experiencing the hair loss
and nausea. I briefly browsed through the census and saw the frequency of his
hospital visits and the length of stay.
    Once his Medicare stay ran
out, he would have to switch to private pay based on his finances. Since his
daughter had already complained about the cost of his care, I doubted very much
that she’d pay his bills unless we threatened discharge. If Donna had
documented his resources accurately, it appeared he had the necessary resources
to stay private pay for a long time.
    I skimmed through the aging
and found that his coinsurance was outstanding. Later I would call his
insurance company and find out why they hadn’t coughed up the reimbursement. If
I remembered correctly, he had a decent policy.
    Going to the admission sheet
tab, I found that he was a retired industrial electrician who worked for the
Red Star yeast factory. I noted to myself to check his financial information
for a pension. Past experience taught me that there were family members more
interested in the parent’s money than their health.    
         Deep in research, I didn’t notice Shantel’s
arrival until she tapped me on the back. I jumped in surprise.
         “Hey Sunny, what’s Phyl got you so busy on?” She
leaned over my shoulder. “Mr. Schroeder, huh? I tell you, that there man’s got
more problems than a Pentecostal church without a modesty blanket.”
         I stared at her dumbly, clueless.
         “You know girl, for tossing over the women when
they get to rolling around on the floor while speaking in tongues.”
    “If you say so.” We were from
different worlds. “Phones are nuts today. Did you clock in?”
         “Un huh. Morning meeting, right?”
         “Yeah, in five minutes. Just enough time to use
the restroom.” I gathered my notes and returned them to my office. I pulled my
census binder off the shelf, took a yellow legal pad, and headed for the
conference room. It was empty, so I dumped off my books and left to visit the
restroom. I still returned before anyone else arrived. I poured myself a cup of
coffee and took a donut off the platter sitting in the center of the table. I
chose a cream-filled, powder sugarcoated one that would have me belching the
rest of the day. At the moment, it seemed worth it.
         I bit into the donut and cream oozed out the
side. I licked it before it got all over my fingers and made a sticky mess.
Just then, I