It's Back!

  Yes, it's back. Flu shot season is upon us. I don't know about the rest of you but I love giving flu shots. I don't know what it is that I love so much but I do. Maybe it's the one-on-one contact with patients. Maybe it's because most of the people receiving them actually want your service (as opposed to that MAJOR inconvenience of our counseling them on a med they've been taking for 20 years). Or maybe it's the satisfaction of knowing that I am helping my community stay healthy thru the flu season. Or maybe I'm just a masochist and like sticking people with a needle, who knows. What ever the reason I love it. I don't love trying to fit it into my work-flow, but I have an awesome staff that makes it run like clockwork so even that isn't too bad. I don't love my company's total, complete concentration on the subject by setting goals and running contests. That kind of thing cheapens the service and takes the professionalism out of it, but what can you do. A corporation is always going to focus on quantity rather than quality. It's up to us as the professionals to put that kind of thing into perspective and coach our staff on proper procedure and not cutting corners just to meet goals or win contests. And, oh yeah, we still have prescriptions to fill so we can't put flu-shot "blinders" on and forget everything else. But taking all of that into consideration, I still love the simple act of sitting down with a patient, talking to them about what they are going to receive then administering the vaccine.