Burnt out and under appreciated

• I don't think I can do this any more. - please light a fire under me
  • Visit this website - it has SAVED me! - sm - Bobbie
    • Ooops - flylady.com - forgot that part - lol - nm - Bobbie
  • I've had the exact same week... - Down-in-the-Dumps
  • Ah, a little better now. - please light a fire under me
  • I'm so sorry you are feeling like this! I truly believe it is because - Dancin Shoes
  • Don't feel like the Lone Ranger! - Me, too!
  • MTing - superwhine
  • all jobs have their ups and downs sm - just me
  • Boy do I hear that!!! STOP transcribing right now. take a shower, lie down. NM - fg
  • you have my sympathy -- - sm
  • You're not alone! Used to love this job - can relate
  • I don't think.... - typnfool
  • I've been crying all morning and can't stop (sm) - Whining Wendy
    • I feel like... - Me2
      • well that's cute, how'd you do that? - not me
        • you're talking about those cute smileys right? I wanta know too!!!NM - fg
        • Burnt out and under appreciated - bev
          • Total Burn Out - Old Stressed MT - Very LM
            • Burn-out - Pat
            • I'm beginning to wonder if that's all there is left is - my thoughts
              • SM - Dano
                • I just find it ironic that everyone on the board seems to be - who's whining?
                  • I think I get a fair mixture - Transcender
                    • Sounds like you are SM - Dano
                  • About whining - Dano
            • No, it is NOT your price to pay SM - Dano

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Hi Everyone,

I am not coming here to sound like I'm whining or complaining, but I am just completely burnt out, stressed, and an emotional wreck and need advice because I'm sure we've all been there.  No one understands our jobs.  I'm definitely not trying to say I have it *so bad and worse than anyone*  because I think we all have it exactly the same.  What do you do when you get burnt out like this?  Would it be a good idea to just take a *break* from transcription for a while? 

I have been doing this for 3 years and just can't seem to get ahead.  My motivation is there (most of the time) but my line counts just aren't.  Most of the time I am making less than minimum wage.  I struggle through 60 minutes of dictation, only to have a piddly 400 line count after about 8 hours.  My doctors seem to like to spout off partial or wrong company names that people work for (completely irrelevant to the report), activities, job titles, work equipment, street names (of all things), school names (out of state), impossible to find without at least 20-30 minute doctor name searches as much as they can (always mispronouncing or an out-of-state doctor because my accounts are basically on the border between 2 states).  Join the club... I know.   I definitely love transcription and who I work for..but I am just incredibly frustrated at my paychecks along with the amount of time and effort spent on a check amounting to $200 every 2 weeks.  I am always working/at the computer "on call" on my days off...as most of us are. 

I do have a daughter at home who has become VERY demanding (she is not the reason I decided on this career; I have a huge interest in the medical field and didn't want to be a nurse or secretary, anything like that).  She is in preschool, but my work has been coming later and later to the point where I have no choice but to do it while she is home.  Talk about adding to my stress. 

I actually just let it all out last night.  My eyes are all swollen today from bawling last night.  My husband asked *are you done yet* after me only trying to vent my frustrations to him for like 2 minutes (that just set it all off) - and was fed up with me and told me to *just quit because I don't want to work* that phrase skyrockets my blood pressure.  He doesn't get it.  The transcriptionists work is never done and we never get away from our jobs!! 

He is never home due to his job, which he loves and says is a cake walk.  To be honest, that actually makes me jealous and even more irritated.  I just wish he knew for one second what my life was like!  He has a 2 hour commute, gets the GI bill every month, and loves to work overtime and trust me he makes enough for us all to get by smoothly.  Still, EVERYTHING is on me...EVERYTHING...on a constant daily basis.  I have 3 dogs, 3 cats, 3 goats, and a daughter to take care of, along with the house, cooking, and all of the chores that go along with it...which I wouldn't trade for the world, don't get me wrong, I just feel like I don't have the time for anything other than my job and my daughter's attitude is really starting to reflect it and all of my family sees it, just not my husband. 

What gets me is...he and his parents can and are 100% willing to pay SOMEONE ELSE to take care of my daughter and do MY JOB with her...yet, here I am struggling to do a million things at once and only coming out $100 ahead of preschool.  Would they think about paying me?  Lol, I highly doubt it..and in fact when I brought it up to my husband last night, he laughed in my face and called me crazy.  Well, what is so crazy about it?  I taught her everything she knows!!  Yet his parents will still comment on what a great job preschool is doing for her.  It is the pressure from his parents (who both happen to be school teachers) and my husband would never go against their decisions.  Don't get me wrong, I would never expect/want to be paid, lol...it is just a hypothetical situation.  If it is good for someone else, why can't it be good for anyone else?

I think that was actually the start of my frustration..when he started his new job because he got lazy around the house and with our daughter!  When he gets a day off though, you better believe it's a day off!!!  He does whatever he wants with his buddies or whatever, while I sit at home and deal with the same things when he is working.  When he gets home from work, he has the nerve to ask me *what did you do all day* because my paychecks dont REFLECT the amount of time that I am actually in here working my butt off...and neither does the mess of my house. 

Any ideas on what I could tell my husband to help him understand at least partially what I, we all, go through in this field without him basically telling me to shut my mouth because him not listening to me is really getting old. 

First of all, you sound like you need a hug, but I couldn't find a smiley for that, so here is a cheers!  

Maybe you just need a change of scene? Would it be possible for you to find an MT job outside of your house in a local clinic or hospital for a few hours a week? You might even be able to make more money doing less hours outside of the house.   

Husbands can be so irritating sometimes.

At the end he said, "This is <his name> bumbling through this again.  Thank you so very much." 

Guess it makes me at least feel a little appreciated.

-

on JLG and All Type. Speaking with one, actual offer from the other but not sure about either. Concern for more is flexibility which they both promise, but I heard that one before.

I appreciated what you just said in this post about union/organizing/mts....however, I think most of Americans are like this, not just MTs.

In this country, it seems to me (and I'm 3rd-4th generation), it's all about the individual and their pocketbook(s), finding a rare person who does actually  think globally or universally. 

I feel this way politically too....for 6+ years people are complaining, moaning, and groaning about the govt - but not a single person would challenge same govt, only challenging with words and not actions (not enough actions) - so they will continue to moan and groan, not getting off their duffs and doing anything REAL.  

just my nickel's worth.....

I was just told by a company that 8.5 cpl as an IC was too high, even with 20+ years of experience! 

I just recently went back to work in the office at a local hospital. We type in both Meditech and Cerner, depending on what you are typing, i.e. Medical Records reports versus Radiology.  We are currently typing blindly in Meditech, meaning we do not have access to our line counts and must depend on management to give us our totals.  In Cerner, we are able to run a line count report and print out a hard copy of our line counts at the end of the day.

We are finding that 800 lines in Cerner equals about 500 lines in Meditech.  We are not paid per line nor do we have an incentive plan, but we have a new HIM Director who would like to institute an incentive plan and the administrator over our department has laid down the law and decreed that all transcriptionists not making minimum in the department will be written up.  Problem is according to Meditech line totals that we have been given, that would be about half the department.

The transcription supervisor has taken our concerns to the new director who told the MT Supervisor to hold off on writing people and has taken home all the line counts from the last month and she is going over them with a fine tooth comb this weekend.

I am not a very trusting soul by nature, so I am doing a little research on my own.  I've been in this business for about 15 years.  I started out in a hospital and have worked for a few services at home and am now back in the hospital setting.  So I know a few things about line count and I consider myself to be pretty well informed on trends and technology in the industry.   I would like to walk into our next department meeting armed with as much knowledge as possible.  So I have come up with some questions that I would like some fellow MTs to answer, give opinions, and maybe even direct me to websites or individuals who could give me a better understanding of Meditech and Cerner.  Here are my questions:

1. Is it possible for an MT to have access to her line count in Meditech or is strictly a management function?  Any MTs that work in Meditech on this board, do you currently have access to your line counts and if so, how do you check them?  Is it an option on the main menu after you log into Meditech?


2. How is a line defined in Meditech?  (i.e. 65 cpl, with spaces, without spaces)


3. How is a line defined in Cerner?


4. What abbreviation Expanders work with both Meditech and Cerner?


5. Examples of incentive plans (if anyone would like to share that with me that would be great, if not I completely understand).


6. Measuring productivity by minutes of dictation versus typed lines.




1. What would be the minimum minutes required for an 8-hour day?


2. How would one structure an incentive program based on minutes?

I was thinking of presenting the idea that we keep track of productivity using minutes instead of lines since there is such a discrepancy in Meditech.  I also worry that if an incentive plan is put into place and we are still typing blind into Meditech, what's to keep management from shaving off a few lines here and there?

Feel free to email me or post here any responses.  Either is fine.  I really appreciate any input, comments, or just plain old supportive posts would be nice too!