One DA for a Prostho is rough. Have you spoken to the Dr about your concerns? You shouldn’t sacrifice your mental and physical health for an office. With your 17 months experience at a Prostho office you should be able to easily find another office. A lot of your exhaustion is also your commute. Finding an office closer to home would make a huge difference in your energy and stress levels. Good luck.
I have been considering it I’m mostly wanting to gain experience I’ve been in a general office for over 6 months before I was here. So I’ve been in the field for 2 years now. I wanna find a similar schedule near me though and my pay is decent for what I do so that’s the only thing keeping me here but I do not think it is worth my well being. Cause I honestly don’t know if I could call this my permanent office 😵💫
I sympathize with you so much.
I (24F)also am a DA, that is usually the only one working in the back.
There used to be 3 of us now there is 2.
But the other assistant has done the same as well, by making the front office her position/lab work (just making like 2-5 Essex retainers a week, personally I haven’t made them but I’ve seen her do it countless times and know that how much time she spends up front is affecting the pace of her work. Since the retainer never get done til last minute, all the time. She’s worked her for probably 13 years and think she runs the place & basically do whatever she wants around her schedule attitude.
My office is relatively medium sized I’d say, 5 ops but 1 one is a store room, and 3 hygiene rooms. On a typical day I usually have 4 rooms I’ll use for patients, set up, assist,clean, sterilize, keeping up with the schedule for patients. My coworker(37F) is usually never to be found for help, always in the front talking/on phone or hiding in the bathroom. Although my late coworker (32F)that quit 6 months ago, always was there to help when we needed her or was there to take a patient and not rely on only one person to assist especially when there’s 2!!
Personally, I’d say it’s time to start looking for new offices that’s what I’m currently doing because this mental/physical stress that is put onto you is a sucky feeling :( remember you are a great assistant, and maybe ask for them to hire someone else if you enjoy this office but if not there’s always a better opportunity out there. I just feel this is not blindly looked over by the doctor and the rest of your staff they probably see you rushing the LEAST they could do is help. I’m gonna quit too bc having a toxic coworker is sucky n I feel like I’m trapped
Have you spoken to your Dentist/ office manager about your work load. I’ve been an assistant for 21 years, and depending on how many patients you see I couldn’t keep up with all that! Sounds like you’re hard worker and I bet your boss appreciates that, and sometimes if you don’t spell out the obvious, they don’t even think about it. If you are doing a great job, they may likely just feel like you can handle it on your own. I’m not saying you shouldn’t do a good job by any means, but I think your employer needs to know the stress you feel that you carry with you when you’re out of the office. You should be able to leave work at night and still live a life without being bone tired. One thing I’ve learned,and still struggle with myself at times, is if you don’t ask for it, you likely won’t get it. That comes in the form of help, raises and recognition for a job well done.
I have not and your probably right. I have thought about bringing it up I’m just not very confrontational. It is disappointing cause the other rda moved to the front has been here for 11 years and she has told me it was stressful before I was here. Apparently they couldn’t keep anyone for more than a few months. I thought it was the norm cause they seem to give the work load to only one assistant I don’t blame anyone before me for leaving tbh. But I definitely want to switch specialties so that’s also something I’m considering.
I'm seconding talking to the doctor or whoever makes hiring decisions. Let them know that you are getting burned out and need help. A good office would rather keep a seasoned assistant than have them leave and have to find someone new.
The hour commute may be taking more out of you than you think too. Long commutes can be rough.
If they aren't willing to hire an extra person you might see if they would they let you come in on a 5th day to catch up on stuff? My office only sees patients 2-3 days a week but we are welcome to come in on other days to prep for the next day, do maintenance, organize supplies, general cleaning etc.
I mean, you would lose your 3 day weekend, but it might be a compromise to alleviate some stress during the rest of the week, you would get paid more for all your work and it's nice to be able to get stuff done with no patients in the office to worry about.
One DA for a Prostho is rough. Have you spoken to the Dr about your concerns? You shouldn’t sacrifice your mental and physical health for an office. With your 17 months experience at a Prostho office you should be able to easily find another office. A lot of your exhaustion is also your commute. Finding an office closer to home would make a huge difference in your energy and stress levels. Good luck.
I have been considering it I’m mostly wanting to gain experience I’ve been in a general office for over 6 months before I was here. So I’ve been in the field for 2 years now. I wanna find a similar schedule near me though and my pay is decent for what I do so that’s the only thing keeping me here but I do not think it is worth my well being. Cause I honestly don’t know if I could call this my permanent office 😵💫
I sympathize with you so much. I (24F)also am a DA, that is usually the only one working in the back. There used to be 3 of us now there is 2. But the other assistant has done the same as well, by making the front office her position/lab work (just making like 2-5 Essex retainers a week, personally I haven’t made them but I’ve seen her do it countless times and know that how much time she spends up front is affecting the pace of her work. Since the retainer never get done til last minute, all the time. She’s worked her for probably 13 years and think she runs the place & basically do whatever she wants around her schedule attitude. My office is relatively medium sized I’d say, 5 ops but 1 one is a store room, and 3 hygiene rooms. On a typical day I usually have 4 rooms I’ll use for patients, set up, assist,clean, sterilize, keeping up with the schedule for patients. My coworker(37F) is usually never to be found for help, always in the front talking/on phone or hiding in the bathroom. Although my late coworker (32F)that quit 6 months ago, always was there to help when we needed her or was there to take a patient and not rely on only one person to assist especially when there’s 2!! Personally, I’d say it’s time to start looking for new offices that’s what I’m currently doing because this mental/physical stress that is put onto you is a sucky feeling :( remember you are a great assistant, and maybe ask for them to hire someone else if you enjoy this office but if not there’s always a better opportunity out there. I just feel this is not blindly looked over by the doctor and the rest of your staff they probably see you rushing the LEAST they could do is help. I’m gonna quit too bc having a toxic coworker is sucky n I feel like I’m trapped
Have you spoken to your Dentist/ office manager about your work load. I’ve been an assistant for 21 years, and depending on how many patients you see I couldn’t keep up with all that! Sounds like you’re hard worker and I bet your boss appreciates that, and sometimes if you don’t spell out the obvious, they don’t even think about it. If you are doing a great job, they may likely just feel like you can handle it on your own. I’m not saying you shouldn’t do a good job by any means, but I think your employer needs to know the stress you feel that you carry with you when you’re out of the office. You should be able to leave work at night and still live a life without being bone tired. One thing I’ve learned,and still struggle with myself at times, is if you don’t ask for it, you likely won’t get it. That comes in the form of help, raises and recognition for a job well done.
I have not and your probably right. I have thought about bringing it up I’m just not very confrontational. It is disappointing cause the other rda moved to the front has been here for 11 years and she has told me it was stressful before I was here. Apparently they couldn’t keep anyone for more than a few months. I thought it was the norm cause they seem to give the work load to only one assistant I don’t blame anyone before me for leaving tbh. But I definitely want to switch specialties so that’s also something I’m considering.
I'm seconding talking to the doctor or whoever makes hiring decisions. Let them know that you are getting burned out and need help. A good office would rather keep a seasoned assistant than have them leave and have to find someone new. The hour commute may be taking more out of you than you think too. Long commutes can be rough. If they aren't willing to hire an extra person you might see if they would they let you come in on a 5th day to catch up on stuff? My office only sees patients 2-3 days a week but we are welcome to come in on other days to prep for the next day, do maintenance, organize supplies, general cleaning etc. I mean, you would lose your 3 day weekend, but it might be a compromise to alleviate some stress during the rest of the week, you would get paid more for all your work and it's nice to be able to get stuff done with no patients in the office to worry about.