Dear Boss: Overworked and underappreciated, this dental office manager has had it!

The Dental Office Manager Digest column, “Dear Boss” is designed for office managers to be able to speak their minds by anonymously writing a “letter” to their boss. Send your letters to [email protected]. Depending on how many are received, your letter may take a while to appear in DOMD.

Dear Boss,

Although I know you try your best to accommodate all of your patients’ needs, I sometimes feel as though your staff members are the last things on your mind. The schedule is often jam packed with back-to-back patients, which causes the days to be longer and staff to stay later. I’m not expecting the office to never run behind schedule, but this happens five days out of a six-day workweek! As crazy as it may seem, we have lives outside of your office and families to go home to! I have never felt so overworked and underappreciated in my eight years of being in dentistry. 

On top of all of this, we are only given 10 days off—five sick days and five vacation days, two of which you suggest we save for Christmas and New Year’s Day in order to be paid a full paycheck! That’s completely ridiculous! If anyone needs or deserves a vacation, it’s me. I’m the first one in the office and the last one to leave. I often clean up messes from undertrained staff that you hired, and I’m always covering the front desk when needed. 

Office morale is at its worse because like me, people are tired. There’s been no time for lunches, staff meetings to discuss change, or any acts of appreciation on your part. It’s as if you think the office need just you in order to operate, when in reality it takes an entire team to run everything efficiently! 

Get it together, Doc! We. Are. Tired!

Signed,

I need a vacation

Do you want to write a "letter" to your boss? Send it to [email protected] and watch for your letter to appear anonymously on DentistryIQ. To read past articles, visit DentistryIQ and search for "Dear Boss."