Aggressive

Sometimes in medicine you have to be aggressive and pursue those lab results that are taking too long, especially when you have a patient who is in a difficult situation.  It helps the patient, the team, and is just a part of the nature of the medical system: more often than not there's a lot of lag time when things are outside of your control, especially when others don't have a sense of urgency.  No matter who you talk to/consult, give them a clear picture of the patient's situation, and it will speed everything along. Communicate the sense of urgency.

I really care about this patient, and if I hadn't called the lab and give them a clear idea of what's going on, they'd probably take even longer to get things done.  Whenever weekends arrive at hospitals and labs, there's always a slow down.

 If results are send-out, or you hear someone on your team mention it's taking a long time, or you personally feel it's taking a long time, take the initiative and call the lab/radiology/etc.

Other than that I've had an exciting, busy day.  So far, so good.