(lab assistant for 7 years)
Posted By: aa on 2006-02-02
In Reply to: FINDING NEEDLES IN LAB COATS - no name
1) white fluid? sounds like a dirty needle to me.
2) a capped needle does not mean it was not used. a needle in a guys jacket does not mean it was not used either.
3) needles go into a sharps container (should have left it in the labcoat for doctor to pick up). i would not have gotten rid of left it in the jacket, in a box/bag, with a note of caution for everyone else until doctor came in.
3) gloves do not prevent a needle stab.
may sound petty to others....but unless you've worked in an area with all kinds of bodily fluids, this is pretty dangerous.
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Med Assistant
I did the exact opposite. I went to a community college to become a medical assistant right out of high school. It took 2 years and I got my Associate of Science Degree. However, when I went into the workforce I found out that Medical Assistants don't make much more than minimum wage and you are scheduled to work 40 hours a week for full time but end up working about 50-55 hours a week. I actually got a job in a Family Practice Residency Training Program Clinic but was hired as a medical transcriptionist. I did the transcription but "helped out" as a medical assistant just so that I could have the best of both worlds. Good luck. I think you get paid more for medical billing.
I use Total Assistant Pro
and it works great for me. You can download the trial version and then purchase after 30 days if you like. It does all the work for you. I love it.
Virtual assistant....sm please
Does anyone know anything about virtual assistants? I met someone and she said that she makes a lot of money doing this. I am looking to supplement my income, because I just can't support myself and my family off 0.08 cpl. I find that I am working way too much just to make ends meet. I have noticed that some virtual assistants are required to do transcription as well as other clerical duties. Can anyone help me with some info on this? Does anyone know how much they make, and if it is worth my time? Thanks.
Medical Assistant
My sister taught medical assisting. It is a 9-month program and when you are done you only make about $8/hr. One of the modules is on MT and quite a few of her students went on to be MTs because they could make more money.
I use Total Assistant and like it. nm
xx
How does one get into being a veterinary assistant/tech? sm
Are there schools to go to or does the vet train you?
I'm a CMA (certified medical assistant)...
and can give injections with a doctor's order, so I assume a CNA would be allowed to also. Not sure about Florida rules though.
Personally, if that personal assistant was-sm
supposed to be you, I would ask for an exorbitant amount of money to do this. such a waste of time!!! Wonder who he is trying to show off for. lol.
I love Total Assistant Pro. sm
I have to work with text boxes on office letterhead and I found Total Assistant counts the text inside the text boxes while others didn't.
I am thinking about being a Medical Assistant
XX
ABCZ Typing Assistant-
Has anyone used any of the ABCZ files from the following site, in particular this file "ABCZ Typing Assistant Version 2 - TAMed2C " ?http://home.earthlink.net/~agjon/abczTA.htm
I have Instant Test and was wondering if there was a way to create your own ABCZ shortcuts with the "importer"?
Thanks
There's a difference between a tech and a veterinary assistant
The main difference is that a tech is certified and has a bachelor's degree or beyond. My son worked as a vet tech while in college because he was a biology major and the vet he worked with found it easy to train him.
A veterinary assistant is more often trained by the vet since it's not so involved. They do vital signs, dispense meds, set up the room for the next patient, etc.
The difference between a vet tech and a veterinary assistant is comparable to the difference between an RN and a nurses' aide.
Either way, it's a very rewarding and gratifying way to make a living.
SmartType vs Smart Type Assistant
Are these one and the same or different? Does Smart-Type work in Dictaphone Extext platform?
Thanks in advance for any help from anyone.
How about starting a virtual assistant business? (sm)
You could do all kinds of stuff (do a Google search under virtual assistant, there are some webpages that explain stuff). U-Haul I believe also hires people to do phone customer service from home. If you look on guru . com they have people who advertise for odd jobs and lots of them are virtual assistant kind of stuff.
Just some ideas. You could also do daycare, pampered chef, that kind of stuff. :)
Wanting to leave MT to be a medical assistant
I'm not sure where to post this but here it goes...I have been an MT now for a little over 2 years, I got into it because it was the only legit profession I could do at home with my newborn baby, definitely was not thinking long term career when I went for it, just something to bring in money while I was at home with the baby.
Now my newborn is going into kindergarten and I have been truly unhappy with the company I am with. So now I am looking to work outside the home and really what I would like to do is be a medical assistant (not CNA). Nursing would take so much schooling, time and money that I don't think I could handle going that route but just something in the middle where my transcription skills would come in to play and I would be working with patients, physicians, paper work and working outside of the house (which would be soooooo nice).
My questions is, does anybody know anything about medical assisting that I should know? I understand it is pretty low pay but then again I am not willing to go to school for 4 years so that is to be expected.
Any help would be very appreciated. Thanks!
sounds like a job a regular assistant could do rather than higher wages for a QA to do.
no speciality needed to look up addresses.
58, AHP/self-taught, trained at hospital 5 years, now with 2 of my own accounts for 10 years, employ
Also worn out 2 keyboards in 4 years. I will never retire. DH will come home some day from work and I'll be slumped over my keyboard. I put in 14 hours a day 7 days a week.
Pack years = packs smoked per day x years of smoking - sm
25 pack-years = 25 years of 1 pack a day, or 12-1/2 years of 2 packs a day.
I don't think pack-years applies to someone who smokes only cigars. But I don't know for sure.
I worked for Cbay for 3 years. I was also part of their lay off back many years ago. sm
Even though I got stuck in a lay off era, I still love the company. They paid well then. The people were nice (exception of 1 person) and if I had the opportunity I would go back again. Fortunately (or unfortunately - depending on how u look at it), I have a great paying job right now, so I am not looking for a change. I do know that at one time, they asked management to accept late paychecks, but never sure of the reason why. My check was never late.
I know it used to be 5-10 years back, but the laws changed within the last 2 years. They can only g
x
6 years legal then switched to medical 17+ years ago. sm
I don't mind doing legal and will do it now from time to time, but be prepared to be totally bored out of your mind.
At least that's the way I feel. I love to transcribe, learned legal in college, went on to get my paralegal degree, etc., etc., but I did temp work when the kids were younger, which was about 90% medical and I would never go back to legal except for once in a while.
Booooooring.
Only 3 years away from reaching total years for retirement
but if I had to do this and raise a family, would feel exactly like you do. The pay is terrible compared to what I used to make. I work 32 hours a week, hope to be able to continue even after full retirement age. I have worked on VR now and unless places get to where they really do not care about how their reports look, think they will need MTs. I very seldom do a report and it is 100%, just cannot remember 1 like that and most take a lot more editing. Working now because want to, not have to anymore, thank goodness!!
I dumped my ex 20 years ago, but got lucky 13 years ago
It would take me all night and pages and pages to describe what a bad person my ex-husband was. After six years of putting up with his OCD, verbal abuse and alcohol, I left him the house, took the kids (5 and 1) and didn't look back. That was 20 years ago.
I wasn't looking to get married again, but I did. After 13 years I only complain when hubby doesn't see things my way. :)
My older kids, who were 5 and 1 when I left, are married and have kids of their own now. My husband gets the Father's Day cards. Their "real" father sits alone in the perfect little house I left behind and let him have and he drinks himself into oblivion every night because nobody is "perfect" enough, including his kids and his grandkids that he never sees.
Sad, but true. So glad I smartened up and got out of there when I did.
We have been supporting other countries for years and years now.
What is the big deal. Look at your clothes, cars, items in your house. You will see mostly China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan etc., etc. We have not supported our own people like we should have for years now!!!!
Only 2 in 13 years for me. First Edix for 8 and now Webmedx for nearly 5 years. nm
.
When I trained, back years and years ago
We did not have spell checking nor the internet (Google for instantaneous help). OMG, how did we do it? We used Correcting Selectrics with the lift-off tape to correct errors- you only had dictionaries, both English and medical, to look up things so yes we did have to learn to spell all those big longgggggggggg words.
MT: 24 years. Same company: 11 years same co. after buyout.
x
Grammar Question: 9 years' ago or 9 years ago? *sm*
 I have a terrible time trying to remember this rule! HELP!
Worked inhouse for years and years
Inhouse transcription from 1973 to approximately 1992 and we had no downtime for answering the phones and when the physicians came into the room (or others) needing some assistance, just part of the job. I did not feel bad about doing it then and I dont see why you would either. You don’t realize that probably you are making right now more than if you are outsourced, right? You have hourly salary plus incentive. Guess how many of us have that now? Probably inevitable about outsourcing so I would say just enjoy while you can. The pay our here now sinks further and further. I make, for instance, 4 cents a line for voice recognition and 8 for straight. Now, more complaining?
19 years old...married 26 years. nm
n
they've been doing this for years and years (nm)
IMHO
People have been saying that for years and years - SM
however, I am working fewer hours and making more money. I think maybe the answer here is working as an IC for a one-owner company. MTSO was an MT for many years and she knows the secret to making lots of $ is putting your MTs doing what they do best and leaving them alone.
I don't think it is the "national" part of services that hurts. I think the low wages can be gauged by the number of suits in the company. More suits = less $.
And why pay QA? Just hire people experienced/good enough to do the work correctly the first time.
I have been doing Radiology only the last two years after several years (sm)
of acute care. I love it and find it easier although not as interesting as acute care. I was told by those who hired me that a good medical Transcriptionist will be able to do Radiology even with no experience in it. There are some specialized terms but easy to learn. I would never go back to acute care unless there were very good dictators and good sound quality.
30 (!) years; OTJ (don't think there were schools 30 years ago) nm
:)
Years ago it was 7 years. Not certain as to status now.
10 years here, too, and making 8.4....same as i was 5 years ago. nm
f
Shame on me.. Am I the only one with 4+ in 2 years, but with my last one 2 years.
Lots of little "stints" in between, just trying to keep my head above water.
24 years MT, 7.5 years with the same hospital nm.
x
22 years, same company 10 years nm
nm
32 years, longest was 28 years at same co. (nm)
*
28 years, 9 years at 1 hospital..sm
9 years at one hospital, 8 years with 2 services, then went out on my own (11 years ago) and got a bunch of surgeons and I moonlight on weekends for a national (9 years with national).
If I knew what I know today, with how the MT business has gone down $$-wise for us over 20+ years, if I had my druthers and could start over again, I would have stayed with CODING/BILLING instead of MT work (though I love MT work) as billing/coding is still lucrative in this country....
just my 3 cents 
32 years, 18 years at hospital...
7 at Medquist, 7 at Spheris. Starting at Transtech Medical tomorrow.
Do you need to have 2 years full time experience or just 2 years' experience? nm
..
49 years old/self taught/daughter 20 years old/self taught. I'm a CMT, and daughter is studying t
take the test soon.
I know I'm old - 30+ years as well
but I do remember specifically being told "double". Maybe there is something to the reason being that they used to "talk good."
I'm going on 35 years of doing this
and I try to keep my goals realistic dealing with rheumatoid arthritis, etc. I don't like to see a minimum of 200 lines/hour; occasionally can reach nearly 300 lph but depends on the dictators. Seems the account I do now mostly has dictators from India, the ones I dislike the most. I love Russians, Japanese, Germans, French, etc., etc., but for some reason I find the Indian accent very difficult!!!!
I, like you, do not use expanders or "normals" etc., mostly because I'm from the old school and I type every word. I'm sure if I used some of the crutches I could easily reach 275 to 350 lines/hour, maybe more who knows! I keep telling myself one day I'll relearn how to do all that but right now, I don't care....when the time is right I'll know. Mainly I just keep trying not to stress myself out too much. I've put in my time and paid my dues and do a great job. I'm not a young chick anymore and don't expct myself to produce these huge line counts, but believe me, I know I could if that was my wish!!! Don't worry.....Be happy!
My Dad is gone now 10 years....
The last present he brought for me was an anniversary clock which I placed on my fireplace mantel in the center....Well that's Dad's spot because whenever I move that clock to any other spot it stops working, but the moment I place it in "the spot" it works immediately. My youngest daughter was almost 2 when my Dad died. After his death she would wake up and tell me "Grandpop was here last night"....I know my Dad comes around many times.
18 years.
nm
As an MT for 25+ years
I wouldn't recommend this profession in this day of voice recognition being on the horizon. Most of us who are doing MT are 40+ years old and there's a reason for that. Most community colleges and junior colleges no longer teach this skill. There's a reason for that. It's soon to be a thing of the past, whether one chooses to accept that fact or not, it is.
Second, this is a great job for awhile. But if you notice that over time people start to get nutzo when they've been out of social circulation too long and start to get a mean, angry edge to them. This is not a healthy way to live, sitting by yourself all day with no contact with the outside world except over the anonymous internet.
This is a great part-time job if you want or need to earn some extra income, but if you're thinking of going to school and have the time and means to do so, I suggest earning a bachelor's degree, which will open your options to many, many different possibilities rather than winding up limiting yourself to being a one-trick pony in a dying field.
I'm leaving this field within the next week - hopefully forever. I have accepted a position that's totally unrelated to MT and want to start building a resume in a profession that has a future. I've also completed my bachelor's degree, at age 48.
I'm not going to paint myself into a corner and wonder what hit me five years from now when this profession no longer exists. I respectfully suggest that you take that into consideration as well.
Best of luck to you in whatever you decide to do, but so allow yourself as many options as you can and don't lose touch with the outside world.
I was a MT for 15 years before going....sm
into a supervisory role. My current day consists of such things as:
Teaching new physicians at hospitals/clinics how to dictate and the information we need to provide a complete medical record for them.
Keeping up with information to assist clients and employees with current 5 different platforms as well as staying aware of changes these platforms foresee coming in the future. Yes, I'm always learning new things.
Answer questions about various accounts that arise. Some of these answers are by the MTs who don't look at the written information we give them on an account but the majority of the questions are "one time" incident items for an account.
Answer questions about turn around times, process stat requests, vacation requests, schedule changes, questions about bills and all sorts of other things during the day from clients as well as employees.
Answer inquiries and provide insight to senior management about things going on with a current client, which of course means I'm talking to the current clients frequently to ensure there aren't any problems not being resolved as well as looking for future additional business with the client.
I also transcribe when needed, usually averaging transcribing between 1000-5000 lines a month while filling in for the accounts having peaks or MTs out for various reasons (including, like Dano said, the one whose grandmother has died 6 times.). I currently have 1 employee who has I presume about 8 grandmothers in nursing homes on feeding tubes in 8 different states and of course all of these grandmothers happen to develop "potentially life-ending" medical crises 1-2 days before a holiday. I do "wonder" how this employee is going to handle it when all 8 of these grandmothers do die if they die at the same time!
I do love what I do, even when I get a phone call from a hospital waking me at 2:30 a.m. stating that the entire hospital computer system is down for maintenance and they forgot to tell me it was scheduled previously and that is why our transcriptionists can't get in to work).
About 20 years
Used to raise a lot of animals but not many anymore, kind of winding down, ya know? I used to organize an annual rare breed animal and pet expo in Tennessee. Most animal people are just really nice folks and it's a pleasure just chatting with them. I have a lot to say about the posts regarding animal cruelty and PETA but that appears to be a good conversation to stay out of.
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