Amanda, did my 2 comments help you? Mine is working,,,nm

• Need help with Stedmans speller - Amanda
  • Amanda, did my 2 comments help you? Mine is working,,,nm - .-
    • Sorry - just saw your comments today. - Amanda
  • Stedman's has free tech support - sm
  • You have also to do this: - .-
  • How to install a program: - .-

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themselves asked me if I'd be interested.  That was 10 years ago though and still going strong, but now I think the competition keeps one from landing their own accounts.  However, it can be done.  I've heard others say they've mailed flyers or gone cold-calling to offices with a business card.  I guess if you have local medical facilities, it's worth a try.  Even mailing a letter with a business card could land you an account.  You never know who is unhappy with their current transcription provider. 

One account I had (he's since retired) asked me because his Transcriptionist was retiring.  So quirky stuff can happen. 

Most of the time my laptop is plugged in. Sometimes I unplug it to play games in bed or if we are having a storm.

I wondered about purchasing a battery back up in addition, even if you can do that with a laptop that already has a battery built in, which I don't know. :) This is my first laptop and I have only had it for about two months.

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Amanda, thank you for your kind words.  I would type on my head if that is what my client told me to do.  I have been on this account from the beginning, and I have not heard from QA in probably 2 years.  Like I posted before, we have always been instructed to type "the patient."  This is highlighted in my account instructions.  Jane Doe was just a random name I used here, thought that would just be understood.  There were other things wrong, but I really do not feel it is worth going into here to just be told what a crappy MT I am.  I have addressed my issues with QA but have yet to hear back from them.       

I applaud this sentence in your comment:

 ' I am going to college to get into another profession and be done with all of this.'

And for THIS I say 'Thank you, Amanda!' . For being so courageous and honest. 

I applaud this sentence in your last comment:

 ' I am going to college to get into another profession and be done with all of this.'

And for THIS I say 'Thank you, Amanda!' . For being so courageous and honest. 

I was just thinking of doing this same thing myself but have forgotten to pick up a timer.  I just added it to my grocery list.  I get distracted a lot too and end up not being as productive as I could be. I've complained alot about this job but taking a step back I have realized I am not working smart because I have been mad because I'm not making the amount per line I was making 10 years ago.  I like working at home, I like taking off when I feel like it or going on vacation for 2 weeks at a time without someone telling me I can't so I'm going to try to make the best of it.  Thanks again.

I appreciate your challenge!!!!!  I think you were very kind to post this and I personally am taking it to heart.  You did nothing in malice at all.  You just posted a challenge and a suggestion.  I am not a new MT.  I have been transcribing for 20 years.  The first 5 years in acute care, then 14 years of psychiatric/psychology, and now another year of acute care.  The change from psych back to acute care you can imagine has been challenging.  I am doing whatever I can to get my production up.  I had never used Expanders other than my autocorrect.  I am now doing this and it has helped tremendously, and in that frame of mind, I accept "your excellent challenge" as you so kindly suggested.  I find myself being distracted a lot, and I am sure when I take this challenge I will see this. 

I love being an at-home transcriptionist.  This profession has been wonderful to me and my family.  I raised two children being an at-home Transcriptionist and never took time away from them in doing so.  I would get up and work an hour before I had to get them up and ready for school, get them up and off, and then work while they were in school, throwing in a load of laundry here and there "on my breaks", etc.  When they got home from school I was done and spent time with them.  In the summer, I changed shifts and worked nights while they slept.  You tell me what other profession gives you that type of flexibility.  None!

Yes, things have changed for us as MTs, but as a working mother and wife, I find that it is still the best.  This being said, I also just plain love it.  I find it challenging, mind-stimulating, and I am always challenging myself to do better, which to me makes it a FUN profession as well. 

Again, Amanda thank you for your post.  I am one MT who is going to take this challenge to see where I can IMPROVE myself.  We will never arrive to our potential if we do not challenge ourselves.  The challenge is on!!!  THANKS!

  Just kidding!  Geez, people!  Amanda tries a little experiment and shares who results with his and people start jumping on her like a pack of lions on a zebra (okay, I watch too much animal planet).

She makes a very valid point and obviously has hit very close to home for a lot of MTs judging by the tone of the posts below.  Be honest, people!  None of produce near where we would be producing if we were in the office.  In the office, there are no husbands bothering us every five minutes, no kids wanting mommy to do something they are capable of doing themselves, no phone calls from mom or sis to fill us in on the latest gossip. 

All Amanda is alluding to is we should all take a little responsibility for our careers and our paycheck.  What's wrong with that?  Sure, sometimes the deck is stacked against us and we aren't being paid what we are worth and the dictators mostly suck.  But a lot of the time, we get interrupted, piddle on the internet, and I myself will get distracted in a good game of Solitaire!

So instead of jumping all over Amanda, take a good long look in the mirror and just accept a little, tiny bit of responsibility for your paltry paycheck.

First of all, everything you say may be true of the mother regarding her suspicion, but as I always try to do before I criticize and pass judgment on others, first try to mentally "walk a mile in her shoes."  You might be thinking the same thing under similar circumstances.

Secondly, she signed a waiver for her daughter to go on that trip with full knowledge that these "adult children" were not going to be supervised by these chaperones in any fashion other than just being "available" if they needed them and to help out if anyone lose their passport or suitcase, stuff like that.  The mother knew full well why she was letting her daughter got to Aruba... TO DRINK AND PARTY!   If she didn't know that, then she's a dense as they come.  I wouldn't give my daughter 2 cents towards a trip to Aruba at age 18.  There's only one reason to go to an island like that, to drink.  If the beach is what you want, we've been known to have a few beaches here in the USA, but they don't want that, they want to be free to party it up.  So you can't blame the chaperones, at least not in my opinion.

Thank you for your posting; I find it very useful.  However, I want to comment on the fact that, during training, I never heard of the BOS and received absolutely no feedback.  So, to think that newly trained MTs are ahead of the others, is not necessarily correct.

As a matter of fact, the very first time that I ever heard of the AAMT Book of Style was upon receiving the graded and corrected FINAL EXAM for my course (Career Step) which made reference to my use of a dangerous abbreviation.  I then inquired as to WHAT IS A DANGEROUS ABBREVIATION, at which time someone did RESEARCH and, after a few days of research, reported to me that she had to ask someone else and discovered that a dangerous abbreviation was defined by AAMT, as mentioned in the BOOK OF STYLE.  I immediately purchased a copy of the book and studied it on my own.

I think that none of us fits into any one category.  I hate it when I am stereotyped, especially with regards to what a potential employer may think I know or do not know, or may be capable of doing, as determined by the exact number of years that I have been working.  There are plenty of exceptionally good companies out there who have totally rejected me due solely to the fact that I have less than the number of years of experience that they require, while my current employer constantly gives me the most difficult jobs because I am, in his mind, "one of the best."    Of course, I can't wait until I have those required number of years of experience so that I can reject those very companies that rejected me back in the days when I only had 2 years of experience!!

I appreciate this thread.  It has been very educational. BTW, not only can it be a difficult situation when you work for a "family" business with the wife being the office manager, but I have had negative experiences as a patient when the wife was the doctor's manager.  It just doesn't work out.

While I agree that "other duties as assigned" can be interpreted in many ways, there must be a limit to this.

What I have learned from this thread.

1.  If you have two professions such as Nurse AND MT, write a separate resume for each.  Whether or not you reveal your transcription skills to an employer who is employing you as a nurse is your decision, but should not be required.
2.  As an IC MT, write your own contract.  Stipulate that your MT "business" includes certain duties only pertaining to medical transcription and performed at your location during the hours that you decide.
3.  Stipulate that because MT is your private business entity, due to conflict of interest (or whatever terminology you decide), you do not conduct your private business functions during the same hours as the employee job unless you want to and it is clearly understood that there will be separate charges.
4.  Once you have an established business and income for that business you may need some kind of business license or need to be registered.  The laws vary determined by your state and/or city, county, etc.  However, usually you do not need to register your business until it is actually making a profit.  In the meantime, the existence of your business on paper would offer you some kind of protection against an employer who has employed you as a nurse and is attempting to take advantage of your transcription skills. 
5.  If an employer attempts to have you do transcription on the side, out comes the contract.
6.  Do not offer discounts to anyone simply because they are a friend or employer.  Treat them all the same, require them to pay extra for extra services.  Spell it all out in the contract.  In other words, protect yourself and set them up in the beginning so that they know they will not be able to take advantage of you.

Last I looked, the nurse practice ACT, at least for RNs, is rather specific and does not include such tasks as mopping floors or transcribing dictation.  You sound like a very nice person who has attracted someone who seeks to take advantage of your kind nature.  Don't let them do it.

When asked what I do for a living, I tell them, the response I get the most is this "oh, i've heard of that.  Been wanting to get into it as a side job."  Gee thanks. 

Or "Did you have to go to school for that?"  And actual disbelief when I tell them I did. 

Or "Don't you get sick of not being around people?"  Again...gee thanks.  What am I a shut in?  I still at least go out and check my mail a couple times a week!

Or "Whats that"  Blank look on face or extreme disinterest or disappointment.  Gee, thanks again. 

And here's the meanest one that I received from a guy I was dating for awhile "Are you just afraid of being successful?"  Hmmm.....can I get a gee thanks?

and asking for any more money if I had not checked into the situation thoroughly first.  UPS even said that they hire extra drivers over the holidays that do not use UPS vehicles, so anything could have happened.  I'm not pleased about this situation, but I am trying to at least provide a Christmas for the kids.

Sheri