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Someone understands my Nurse Diesel reference! Yay! LOL nm

Posted By: Nurse Diesel on 2008-08-29
In Reply to: As Nurse Diesel (love that name) indicates, SM - MissIndigo

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As Nurse Diesel (love that name) indicates, SM
the number of lines required really isn't that high to reach the incentive level, but you have to produce them on what I presume are the four highest-volume days of the week. Also, Webmedx provides all MTs with the ShortHand Expander program, classes in using it and developing other productivity skills, experts for personal one-on-one help, MT forums for sharing abbreviations and tips, and other help and encouragement designed to bring those line counts and paychecks up.
Hey Nurse Diesel!! I just wanted to thank
I love your posts and do recognize you when I browse these forums.  I keep a constant eye on the Company Forum, keeping track of good company reviews versus bad, etc.  I just wanted to thank you for coming back on and giving an honest update of your situation.  I used to love my old MTSO, and gave glowing reviews, which were true of  my personal situation, but when things went sour on me, I also tried to share that experience as well. It really helps potential MTs in getting a truthful outlook of a company, rather than just the emotional trashing posts or emotional praising posts.  Not saying you ever did that, just trying to point out to others the flavor of some posts. It also lets others know that they are not alone in their ups and downs with a particular company.  Things are just so unpredictable, even within 1 MTSO. One MT is having their heyday, while another MT on the same account is hemorrhaging $$ due to no work. Its just so bizarre these days.  I had thought of Webmedx for a while, fell for the old employer of the year stuff. But I was not accepted as the recruiter doesn't like me from a past experience at another company, and while I understood on 1 hand, it honestly wasn't fair, and I thought I was missing out on perfection. Their loss, though, not mine. I had my choice of employers, and went with my other first choice.  I am so glad that I was rejected at Webmedx, as no work situations would have killed me, not acceptable at all in my boat!   So, sometimes rejection comes with a silver lining!  And the company I went with, while it had been touted for years as the BEST MTSO in the world, well.... it sure is lacking. Looking back over the years at the posts, there were 1 or 2 poor MTs who would try to share a negative experience with this company, and they would be crucified, with  the usual blame that they must be lowsy MTs. Well, truth be told, the ones with bad experiences were telling the absolute truth, probably even minimizing their plight, and this company is no more a wonderful company to work for than the next MTSO.  I am so depressed about our industry, but I do take comfort that I am not alone in my struggles - I am a top notch professional MT, but this nonsense of no work, etc., just cannot be avoided it seems, by any of us.  It has been a humbling experience, as I honestly used to read posts about MTs with no work,and somehow I felt that in some way it had to be the MT. Maybe they only worked the 5th Tuesday of each month, maybe they only typed Consults, etc.  So I have learned that skill seems to have nothing to do with anything anymore. The job itself and then the work versus no work, versus work type seems to be just a plain old crap shoot, plain and simple. I may as well spend my days down the street in Vegas, gambling at the casinos! At least I could count on free drinks!   Well, again, thanks for sharing your experiences, calmly and honestly, both the good and the bad.  It makes at least this MT feel like I am not alone in these trying times. 
I think everybody understands what

happened and why.  Obviously you didn't know it was possible to check or you would have done it.  There is just no need for people to be so mean about things.  She could have informed you nicely, for future reference, that you could check your messages even if you didn't have any minutes.  You're beating yourself up enough, she doesn't need to add to it. 


 


OMG. Everybody else here understands my point.
The subject at hand was days off for holidays, not the existenstial meaning of individual beliefs. When considering employment and talking about benefits, I don't care what religious or political views the potential employer has, I care what days I will be granted off and if I will be paid for them as it pertains to employee benefits.
The subject at hand was employer-recognized holidays, not personal religious beliefs.
My boss could call August 1st a holiday if he wants, but if nothing changes in regards to my employment and/or benefits, what's the point?
Happy Festivus!!!
Nobody understands what you are hallucinating...nm
nm
Let me rephrase: "The owner presents herself as an MT who understands our situations"
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Sue, a former nurse AND can do over 600? SM
I'm impressed. Regarding your last point, a little present:

For VR, use your expander's ability to record your Keystrokes to set up macros for all the corrections you typically do, both of words and punctuation. Especially punctuation.

If you jump from word to word, you end up on the next word when you need to insert a comma behind, right? So enter the keystrokes you use to do this in your expander: backspace-comma-space (to return to the first letter of the next word). Then give that macro a 1-keystroke name. Then start doing the same for all the typical and more involved corrections you do. Copy macros you can't make yourself from others.

You're going to find your Expander incredibly helpful, and I'm guessing you'll be breaking 600 typically.
MT vs nurse

Believe it or not, I would rather work at home as an MT for $10 an hour than ever again work in a hospital as an RN, even if the pay exceeded $25 per hour. 


My computer doesn't bleed, and 15 jobs don't demand/require my attention all at once.  I still only work on one report at a time. 


In other words, as an MT, no one is depending on me for their very survival, and I rejoice that I no longer have to depend on a broken system or other individuals to provide my patient the care he/she needs. 


Even for those hospital systems that claim to be not-for-profit, the bottom line and top priority is profit.  Therefore, they plan to run on as few individuals as the laws will allow.  Short-staffing and overwork was a fact of life at every hospital that I ever worked.  Home care had its own challenges. 


Again, my computer gives me relatively little trouble when compared to my experiences as a nurse working face-to-face with sick and needy people in a sick system that does not always provide what the patient needs when the patient needs it.  The money may sound enticing, but the reality was extreme frustration for this nurse!!


 


 


Nurse practitioner?
Unless the nurse practitioner is shadowing the doctor, which they usually have their own schedules to follow, how can she accurately dictate his patients??? Great suggestion though?
You are right, not a nurse, never wanted to be one
because my math lacks a lot but always good with spelling and fast typist so MTing was something that fit right in with me. Having said that, why do you stay with this profession if unhappy? I have made as much as a nurse in years past but like everyone else in this job, the pay fell. I have worked Christmas Day but I usually plan to either work very early and take off later for family dinner or if I had young children I would work later in the day or with TTS the last year worked early Thanksgiving and took off Christmas. Most jobs out there are a lot less bending than ours. I worked so many years out in the regular places am glad to work at home, finally.
another nurse turned MT already sm
complaining about the hours, job, etc. If you liked the hours as a nurse, go back to being a nurse.

Geeze I get so tired of everybody in every profession wanting to switch to MTing just to work at home!
So you saying you're "still" a nurse then, SD?
LOL
...or when a nurse is dictating for doctor...

and he doesn't know how to pause dictation.  Last week I listened to four 30 minute dictations with only about 100 lines to show for it!  Finally the office taught him how to use the system!  Rookies ARGHHH!



nurse ratchett (not sure of spelling)
xxx
I wonder if an MT can make as much money as a RN nurse? Curious about that
and wondering
Nurse and exMQ pretty much illustrate SM
the range of possibilities. The rate is high, but it's not a gift--you need to be a good producer for those nice chunks of change to show up in your bank account.
Reference regarding

business practices -- I was not referring to one company specifically.  From reading the board, there are messages regarding existing insurance coverage suddenly being unavailable.  Others have posted regarding to unpaid training time, which I believe under employee status is unlawful.  If the shoe fits.  One cannot sign away one's legal rights, no matter what kind of wording they put in a contract.  I would say dropping existing insurance coverage and then stringing people along regardig that amounts to fraud.


 


 


 


Reference
Has anybody ever requested a copy of a work reference?  I would just like to know if I can get a copy of mine.  Thanks.   
reference this.
nm
Reference Books?
How much are you asking and what do you have? I need a cardiology ref book for sure! Also in need of ophthalmology ref book. Please let me know. Thanks!
Good reference here
You're absolutely right, this board is a good place not only to vent, but to get the scoop on the companies out there. Sure some people are just going to be venting on here cause they got fired or couldn't make it but if you weed through those you can pretty much get the idea on others. This is a great resource.
Reference Books
I am starting with Trans Tech the first part of September.  I used to do transcription in a hospital, but have been out of it for a few years.  I have never worked at home before.  What kind of reference materials do most of you have at your desk?  Do you have mostly books, or online references?
For future reference...
I have found in my years that most places are far less concerned with format than content, in the belief that format could be individual based on client needs and any formatting errors could be quickly corrected in your first few days under the watchful eye of QC. That said, as a QC myself, I see many more errors related to content than I do of format once an MT has hit about a month on any account.

Good luck with your job search.
Probably just a reference to a generic
red-dot-head. Could be Shavinder, Rajah, Bopinder, Rajinder, they all seem to be 'inders'.
Well for future reference....
I would have the line counting program in place BEFORE I even gave my start date or whatever.  Of course, if you were having so many personal or family issues that you couldn't even send an invoice, then you can't be outraged that you got cheated out of lines.  Companies have certain deadlines as well and they aren't able to wait around and figure out how to get your programs up and running.  I'm not sure what kind of company you worked for, but if it were ME, and of course it isn't, but I would have INITIALLY in the BEGINNING told them I was having an issue with a line counting software and ask what they SUGGEST I use that may be in comparison to what their other MTs use.  IF they were rude, as you suggested, then I would have just not started working for them.  But, to work, not able to count lines, not able to send an invoice in, the whole mess seems very disorganized, so you shouldn't be shocked that you didn't get paid.  LESSON LEARNED.
My post was in reference to Transcend....sm
Know nothing about Cymed, so I'll take your word for it, but am *quite* happy at Transcend. You should try it!
Not complaining, just asking for reference. Only out a few minutes (sm)
and it was early early Sunday morning, not during her normal work hours.

BTW, can you call solution center for help with this during weekends/off hours?
Reference check question?

I accepted a position about 2 weeks ago at a company that apparently hire people before checking their references.  My references that I listed are calling me stating that they are just receiving reference calls today.  Is this the standard practice of getting hired.  I was hired two weeks ago.  How come they did not check my reference then!   I just think this is backwards, but I have good references anyway.


This makes me worried about this company because so many MTs on this board have negative things to say about this company.  I hope this is not the beginning of bad things to come with this company.


Oops. I mean to reference the low pay to TTD specifically... NM

Google vs Reference Books

I admit the Internet is faster and easier, but if you put in the wrong spelling when looking up a word on the Internet, a lot of times you can find it spelled that way.  I've had it happen.  I agree with this poster.  There's too much room for error when you just Google a word and don't know the meaning or how to spell it.  I do use it frequently for drugs, especially new ones.  I just make sure to find the drug company's website or the official website for the policy.  I've seen surgical equipment come up spelled totally wrong, like it sounds, nothing close to the correct spelling.


Another thing, I worked in an office last summer doing editing with a couple newbie MTs.  One girl thought she was the computer/Internet whiz.  She was working on clinic note tapes.  One day the Internet went down. OMG!! You would have thought the end of the world had arrived.  She was lost, frustrated, and on the verge of tears.  Now there was a complete set of Stedman Word Books, as well as Dorlands and 2008 drug books in the office, but she didn't even know what books to look in.  So another good argument for reference books.  Get the knowledge, don't just depend on the Internet.


 


In reference to gross line pay...sm
Let's put it this way. I used to be paid by the gross line until my company was bought out by a national. My pay at that time was 3.25 per gross line. Working on the very same client account on a gross line, I earned $20,000 more then anually than I do now after having been switched to 0.09 65 cpl w/spaces. However, a gross line also depends on the size of the font used and the length of the margins. But you get paid 3.5 cpl whether there is 82 characters in a *line* or just one character. do you realize how many short lines there are in a dictation as opposed to full 65 character lines? and how many of those short lines it takes to add up to a 65 character line? Believe me, it adds up, and I would go back to a gross line in a heart beat, given the opportunity. Maybe I will give this place a shot!
Wow! I'm impressed. You NEVER have to use reference material? Amazing!
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Can anyone recommend a good reference book
for radiology. I just started on a rad account in training. I love it so far but would like a good radiology terminology book that especially contains terms for MRIs and CT scans. ALso, can anyone tell me what the average rate is per report for radiology? Thanks!
Meant reference library materials.... nm

nm


 


Was a reference posted in February by an MTSO that it
search by key word _flying monkies_ and read the responses.
Caught your Cowsills reference. Cute! :) nm
s
I agree, it's a good general reference...
but be careful because everything you read on here is not totally correct... I would say not even in the 80% correct range.  There are several companies talked about on this site that I have personally worked for and I have seen posts regarding them that were not correct at all -- like the platform used, pay, IC or employee, hours, etc.  Also, many people will post bad comments here simply because they do not want new MTs coming on their account and taking their work .  So, yes, it is good for general reference but by no means totally honest.  I think a good indication is when you see multiple posts stating the same issues about the same company.
I've heard of it. Do you Google only or do you have MT reference books? nm
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Buying reference books a tax write-off, yeah? (nm)

Reference book, office supplies, equipment. nm
 
No MT experience needed for test, really. Just good reference materials.
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I have tons of reference books, all specialties. Going on ebay if not sold. nm

I wasn't posting for a job reference, was just seeking advice and info. Thanks!
xx
Don't forget a drug reference. I like my Quick Look that is installed on my 'puter.
nm
This is totally off topic, but your post made me smile with the reference to Wang sm

word processors.  I remember when we got them at the hospital, I was all happy while some of the older ladies were balking at it, but the thing that sticks in my mind was a comedian at the time who did some kind of joke about, Who let some company call themselves Wang? 


Anyway, it was funny at the time and this brought back a memory . I'm sorry for your situation.  I am 50 too, and although I do not live in a rural area, in fact just recently moved to the Denver area, I feel rather trapped.  I have done this since I was a junior in high school, and I really do not have any other marketable job skills.  When I see posts about wages being cut and work drying up, I panic inside and wonder what the future will hold for me.  Even if I had the money to go back to school, by the time I would graduate, I'd be an old lady anyway and probably not the best candidate for hire. 


Good luck to you. 


It is a SUPER FINGER reference .. DANE COOK PEOPLE... good grief.
Amazing you wasted those brain cells analyzing what didn't need analyzed. TIME WELL SPENT! geesh.