The Authority of a Clinic Receptionist

Yesterday a clinic receptionist took me off the “Fall Risk” list. Maybe she noted that I was walking without a cane. That I didn’t have a leg brace. That I came without someone to lean on.

She could’ve been a nurse or doctor when she asked why I had fallen. “Were you dizzy? Did you lose your balance? Lightheaded?” I told her that I had overextended my leg when I was exercising and sort of toppled over, injuring my knee.

Could she see on my chart that this “fall” happened almost a year ago? At every visit to the physical therapy department for the knee injury, the receptionist put a yellow fall risk band around my wrist. Each time I saw the orthopedic surgeon, I wore the band along with a leg brace and leaned on a cane. After about three months, I stored the brace in its box, and after six months, I hung the cane on a rack in my closet. But the fall risk label remained.

The fall risk distinction must immediately show on my chart to alert all receptionists each time I have a clinic appointment. I get most of my health care in the same facility, hence the tenacity of my tag.

Now that spring was here, I found that I couldn’t hide the band under long sleeves. I began to wonder if I would ever get bumped from the list. Once a fall risk, always a fall risk?

The astute receptionist accepted my story. With the confidence of a health care professional, she told me, “I’m deleting your fall risk status.” She sprung me from the prison of labels. I am impressed with her authority. And grateful.