Could also be life support unit. nm
Posted By: Suzi on 2005-09-25
In Reply to: LSU what does is stand for? - Curious
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Life is life....the haven't bonded the same as if it were a 2-year-old!
nm
IC MT to Unit Secretary - sm
Do you like to answer the phone? Do you like to file? Do you like to have people order you around? Are you neat and organized? Can you do three or four things at once? If yes, then go for it. The hours 7 pm to 7 am may not be as busy as when I worked during the day, but your hospital may well be busier, depending on what type of unit you're on. I learned a tremendous amount working as a unit secretary, one thing being I didn't want to be around people anymore, the pubic being the most obnoxious of them all. An doctors in person can be very arrogant too; a lot different than on the other end of the line. Don't know how you will do those hours with small children, but good luck to you.
IC to unit secretary
You brought up some excellent points! Since you have done both US and MT, you definitely would say that you prefer the MT over the unit secretary?
Thanks for your input!! 
Need transcriber unit
You need a transcribing unit that has a pedal that comes with it. Your digital pedal will not work. Depends on size of tape -- micro, mini or standard.
Unit Coordinator
That was my first job in a hospital, although I had worked as an insurance examiner for an ins. company and had medical terminology. It was actually a job I loved. I answered the phone at the unit desk, called for missing reports needed for the patient to go to surgery. When I did it I transferred all the doctors orders onto a cardex and filled out the necessary lab/x-ray/PT, etc. requistion slips. I filed the lab slips and x-ray reports on the chart when they came to the floor. When a patient coded I had to respond and take notes of when CPR was started, all meds given, who responded, time ended. If the nurses were all busy I often answered call lights and relayed the patient's needs to the nurse caring for that patient. I loved it because at the time my boys were little and I worked part-time 3-11. I only needed a baby sitter for two hours till DH got home and I got full benefits for my entire family at no cost. So besides the small check I was bringing in I was furnishing my family's medical coverage. Every job now wants you to be certified in ACLS (Advanced Cardia Life Support) they want you to often times be able to monitor patients if they are in CCU or ICU (that is be able to tell when something out of the norm is showing up on the monitor). I wore scrubs, so no work clothes expense. If the pay works for you go for it...it is totally different from MT and often times there are opportunities for advancement to other positions once you get your foot in the door. I loved it, it was a great job. Just be aware it is a 7-day a week position, so not every weekend off and you will work holidays, Christmas was always the worst but at least it was 3-11 so I had Christmas morning and early dinner with my family.
TENS UNIT
I have used in the past all day.
I agree with Former Unit Secretary sm
Great job, learned a hell of lot, meds,diseases, etc., but I worked days and weekends, notoriously busy,busy,busy, and saw a lot that I just didn't like. Staff personalities are really much worse behind the nursing station than they are on the floor, believe me. Got tired of getting reamed by doctors who thought I was the nurse just because I answered the phone. I never had as much problem with IBS as I did then. If anything went wrong, a med order, lab order, whatnot, it fell on my shoulders. You need a tough skin to work days, nights might be easier, who knows. My skin thinned out faster with that job than 13 years of prednisone usage did. Good luck
Anyone work with a Lanier VTI unit?
Just started today for a new service. I have plugged in the Lanier VTI unit and have checked the connections; they all seem to be correct. I can dial in to the hospital system and access a report, but the foot pedal won't work. My MTSO is calling in a technician but I hope it's not something silly I'm overlooking. Any suggestions?
Lanier is a digital unit
There is a screen on the front of the unit letting you know the job information, number of minutes, dictator, etc. The unit itself utilizes a phone line. The dictators call the server and record their dictation. You access their dictation through the Lanier.
Your still have to have software with the handheld unit
that allows upload to FTP. Without that, FTPVoyager is useless. Make sure you buy handheld units that have the software capability to upload to FTP otherwise you'll be stuck.
If you find that handheld units with the upload software is out of your price range, consider the EZ-Voice solution.
Good luck!
Long-term skilled unit?
ss
Whether or not to leave IC MT job for unit secretary job at hospital???
HELP, PLEASE!!! I am currently an IC, which I have been for eight years, and I recently applied for a nursing unit secretary position at the local hospital. I interviewed and who would have guessed it, they offered me the job. The position is third shift, 7pm to 7am three nights a week. I do have little kids to think of when considering this. My ultimate goal is to go to nursing school and I am thinking that working in the hospital will be good experience. I don't know if it will be easier to go to nursing school while working as an MT or as a unit secretary. I am having a hard time deciding what to do. I don't know if I would be better off staying put even though I have no motivation to sit down and type or should I take this chance to do something new. Like with any new job I am afraid that I won't like it but I don't particularly care for this current job. What do you think would be the better move? I know you can't make my decision for me but some input on what you would do in my situation would be helpful. Any advice is truly appreciated.
Thanks!! 
MT goes unit secretary ... check out my story!
Ive been an MT for 13 years. I was an IC for 10 years, and a FTE for a local hospital for the last 3 years. I came back from vacation in June to discover my lovely boss was interviewing companies to outsource the MT department. He lied to us - told us not to worry - and then a month later our union received the '60 day notice' letter and we were out on our assess. I took a job as a unit secretary - and a $5 an HOUR paycut along with it, working 3-11 and alternate weekends. Am I crazy to do this. Well yes and no. I'm keeping my awesome union benefits, building toward being vested in 2 more years, and just landed an IC MT job doing guess what: MY OLD JOB. The company that outsourced us hired me. I plan to rake in the bucks in the AM and do the b.s. job at night. 3-11 is half the work as a day job - plus you get the shift differential. Wish me luck ! Joanne
Probably medical records or unit secretary
In my area the pay is about 50 cents less an hour than MT seems like a gravy job compared to this.
There is a small microphone on the front of the unit
If you look on the front panel beneath the volume slider, below the button labeled 21, you will see a very tiny hole. It is a microphone hole. I have used the stick from a Q-tip to fill it in and it lessened the hum quite a bit. I left the swab tip hanging out as an extra buffer. Looky weird but it worked!
Try this and see if it works, but unplug and replug the unit first
Programming Dictaphone unit:
1. Press the "Program Key" key (far left button under the display screen) and you will see the word "Keys".
2. Press the "Keys" key (same far left button under the display screen).
3. Press the first button on the left vertical row of black buttons (remember this marked button as it has been programmed for the display), and put in the following: # * 1 8 (to program the display).
4. Then press the "select" key (look on the right hand side of the phone keyboard itself and press "x" where it says "Dictate" aka the multiplication sign), and the display window should clear.
5. Lift receiver to get original display back and hang the receiver back down. You are done programming.
To get a job, dial the hospital phone number, enter your ID#, and press 6. You will hear the prompt say "at start". To get the demographics, press the "programmed key" (or the button you programmed on the vertical row) twice. You should hear four rapid tones and it will start giving you the demographics. If you miss any part of the demographics, you can press the "programmed key" again twice, and it will start the demographics again. Every time, you sign off a job and get a new job, you will have to press the "programmed key" twice again for the demographics.
The code to program the display button on the Dictaphone is # * 1 8. If for some reason, your Dictaphone will not give you a dial tone or seems locked, trying reprogramming the Dictaphone as above.
What model is the unit? I used one a long time ago..sm
However, the doctors called into it to dictate. There was a hard drive with it that was connected to phone line. I would log in on the machine and pick up the jobs to transcribe. Is it similar to that? Or is this something else? There is also a Philips call-in station that hooks to phone line, but that's only for the docs to call and dictate.
How are you using the Philips to get work from your friend, that's what I don't understand? Does the friend have the same system? Just trying to figure out the setup and how to be more helpful. I know I once tried to use the Philips call-in to re-record dictation from a microcassette and it wouldn't recognize it and just timed out. It would only accept an actual voice, and that was using landline phone, so I think they do have certain parameters set up. It might be that the Vonage isn't compatible. Maybe you could call a Philips tech support person and ask. There's a tech number in the manual and on their website.
Handheld unit software question. sm
Is there a software for the Olympus WS-100 and other units with USB ports that copy from the unit to FTP or designated site for file transfer, store a copy onto computer, and then delete from unit?
If so, please advise. Thanks.
Hospital Unit Coordinator/Clerk
Anyone know what this kind of job would be like? One of the local hospitals has a few of these positions open in various departments. I'm wondering if it's a high pressure/low pay kind of thing, if only because they seem to be hiring from the outside. When I worked for a bank many years ago, they hired "outsiders" only for the crap jobs. I'm tired of MT and want to explore my options.
TENS unit inquiry minds want to know:
Just wondering if anyone has a personal experience using a TENS unit they could share. How long do you use yours for, if you find relief that you forgot you could have, etc. As a chronic low back pain sufferer, I’m looking forward to getting mine on Tuesday!
Thanks
P.S. The temperamental Sony unit was a bargain at $100! Ouch!
Anybody want to sell me a bridge?
Maybe you local Cancer Society unit would have suggestions? nm
s
Which hand-held unit is simplest for doctors? sm
Need a handheld unit, but need to know of simplest one for doctors to use. Also, is there a program that uploads the dictation as soon as you connect the unit that sends it automatically? Thanks.
Also plan on getting a cooling unit to park laptop on
they run anywhere from $30 to $100 depending on features. Worth it definitely to run a laptop for 6 hours or more to keep the unit cool.
Take at home transcription job or unit secretary job at hospital?
I've been an MT for 12 years and have worked at home doing MT for 10 years. Recently got replaced by EMR so had to find work elsewhere. I took a job at a local hospital as a unit secretary working 3-11 now I have been offered a job with a national transcription company. I'm not sure if I should go back to transcribing since the line count/money making potential has me worried. I've been assured that I will never run out of work but I'm worried that I will actually be working longer than the 8 hour shift in order to make the amount of money I need. I would love to be back home with my kids typing again as I miss not seeing them as much as I used to and they want me to be home. I am just not sure if I should stay in a job at the hospital which has a guaranteed amount of money per pay period since I'm being paid by the hour and not by the line where my paycheck can vary. Any thoughts/suggestions/opinions, recommendations out there? Any and all would be greatly appreciated!!
Thanks!!
I am lucky for the most part, my only hard ones are in the Trauma ER unit, where it's crazy but t
just love to dictate while on the spot there, talk about noise. But the name spellers are the worst, as suggested below that will spell "Smith" but not "Teona" (1 I had earlier). I do several divisions that are supposed to supply patient lists (but tend not too), but I guess they get their jollys seeing how bad I can butcher the names. 
This happened to me once. I had bought a Lanier transcribe unit from someone advertising over on SM
MT Daily. I sent her a money order for $500. She sent me one email after she received the money order saying she had sent the Lanier and of course I never received it and she didn't answer my emails for a week. Then she finally emailed again saying she had asked her daughter to send, but she hadn't and that she was going to ship the next day. Still I didn't receive it. At that point, she stopped answering my emails and eventually blocked me from being able to send me emails. I had her mailing address and phone number. Of course, she screened her calls and never answered the phone.
One thing people should know about MT's, we do our homework. I immediately researched what my legal options were and here is what I did:
1. I contacted the adminstrator of the website on which the original classified add appeared. They attempted to contact her to no avail.
2. I contacted the police departments in both her city and mine and filed a fraud report.
3. I then contacted the Attorney General's off in both her state and mine and immediately filed a report with each office. I was told that the claim would be investigated, but more than likely nothing would not come of one complaint, BUT if they received more than one complaint regarding fraudulent practices by the same business or individual, then they could file charges.
In the end, she made the mistake of forwarding one of those chain emails to everyone in her address book and mistakenly sent it to me. So, I had the email addresses of her business associates, co-workers, employers, friends, family. I promptly sent an email to everyone of them telling them exactly what she did to me and that they should be very careful in dealing with her.
I got several angry emails for people asking me not to include them in my email war. I apologized to those people and took them of the mailing list. However, three of the email contacts emailed me back and said they had bought stuff from her and never received the equipment. And finally, I received a very angry email from the perpetrator's other daughter. Apparently, her mother was freaked out about the fact that I had reported her to the police and the attorney general's office and I also let her know that I had made three other contacts ready to file with the attorney general's office which would probably get my case more notice. The daughter Western Unioned me my money within 24 hours.
Casey, I say break out the big guns and start shooting. That's what I did and it worked for me. You probably have the person's mailing address, so you know where he/she lives or at least what city and state he/she lives in. I wonder if we dealt with the same person? Is this person from Texas?
a phone/transcription unit with foot pedal and earphone...
dials to hospital dictation system for reports to transcribe.
If Google it - might find a picture of one.
Unit secretary will help somewhat with terms, meds, and learning the flow of the shift, but it won&#
s
I make sure the job is not my life and that it does not take over my life. sm
I have been at this 25 years, even once had my own accounts and worked 24/7 with cat naps to keep going but no real sleep. I really burned myself out. Now I work a regular 40-hour week, but it is not my life. It is a means of making money so I can go live my life. I work for a company that is not all about production. They want us to take our time and do it right. I am doing that, and it feels so good to be able to work at my craft and be allowed to do a good job while I am at work.
But after I get off, I have my family and I take time to have fun and enjoy life. I think that is the key to not staying burned out. You need down time, time to have fun, exercise, relax, etc.
Exercise is very important, too. It rejuvenates the hormone system so you have more positive hormones flowing through your body and helps get rid of stress.
That's what I do.
Thanks for your support!
I appreciate it! and you are not "just" an MT...it is a noble profession. I am an MT, too, just have many years of experience. I'm still proud to say that I am an MT
she needs support
you could have left the negativity OUT!!! must be you've never been in a bad situation, lucky you
Support
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/medical_transcription_network/
Thanks for the support!
Thank you all for the support. My PCP's office called me back with the GYN appt. and I was talking to the nurse who works for him. She told me it showed ASCUS and to not worry too much about it.
Never having had anything abnormal come back before, I immediately began freaking out. It is nice to know you have the support of your online MT family to help calm your nerves. They must not be too worried about because I can't get in to the GYN for 3-1/2 weeks. I will try not to worry.
Thanks again!
He needs to support you more.
If this is going to make things better for you in your work area, then he should stand behind you 100%. I would just go get it. I just got one last week because my hands were hurting, and it has helped tremendously. I can't say I had to go through my husband though because when I said I thought I could use one, he said you should got get one. I understand sometimes income isn't always there and other things are more important and it's always nice to feel like your husband is behind you, so I would try talking to him again and trying to make him see things from your point of view. Hope you made any sense of out this! Thanks and good luck!
another support
When I worked for a hand specialist he always recommended Comfort Cool splints for DeQuervain. I type in them every day and they are very comfortable. Good Luck!
Thank you so much for your support
It means a lot.
support
For many of us who are working alone all day this is a wonderful way to connect not only on a work level but on a social level. I see no harm in supporting and helping each other in a public forum such as this. It has often helped me tremendously both with work issues and for general discussions to help make my day better !
Thank you to everyone for your support!
You guys reminded me what a great support system we have in place here. I really appreciate all of your advice and support in the matter and after talking it over with my husband I am going to pursue legal action. I worked very hard to get my Bachelor's Degree in Business Management and medical transcription provided me the income to do it. I am currently enrolled in the Master's program and with the 10 years of MT experience and owning my own service for four years, I feel as though I was qualified for the position (he must have felt the same way to give me the job in the first place). However, I disagree with the "seasoned" poster below who thinks that only someone with 25 years of experience can manage a team of MTs. I believe that to be completely untrue and unfounded and I am sorry she/he has such a narrow minded attitude on the subject that she/he feels as though they should be so argumentative with every poster. Thanks guys for giving me a boost of encouragement on a really really bad day yesterday when all I wanted to do was hide under the covers. I wrote that post after getting up at 4 a.m. and driving almost 10 hours all day. Thanks for lift.
do you support yourself
and pay your own bills? That's motivation enough for me ! Take lots of breaks or take a few days off if you need to. If you really don't need the money, then it's easier to let yourself get distracted.
Thanks for the support
Thank you both for writing back. I have written the BBB, but as the parent company is in Canada, I also wrote theirs - along with the Attorney General internet fraud department (state and national), the Consumer Protection Agency, the FTC, the AAMT and their school accrediation director, and my mother. I'm just in shock that they had the nerve to wipe out my grades! But you're right - I also need to contact a lawyer so they can't do this to others. The sad thing is that I'm a nice, quiet person, else I wouldn't have waited six weeks to throw a fit. Anyway, thanks for responding - I need kind words and a nice glass of wine!!
Dianne
Thanks for the support, all (sm)
You know what's funny, is that every time I post I end up getting one semi-uncalled-for response, and it's always from a person by the same name!
I had one lady email me saying that I "could be arrested" for writing a check knowing I didn't have money in the account. Ummm... No. That's why I have overdraft protection, like I said in my original post. I'm okay this morning, but I was a total sobbing mess last night and I think I made that pretty clear in my post. So someone emails me after I already said that I had overdraft protection and tells me that I could get arrested? And it's always the same person?
Geez, lady. Way to kick someone who is already down. (And I've never heard of anyone being arrested for using their overdraft protection!) There's at least one jerk on every message board, though, right?
But to the rest of you... THANK YOU!
Thanks for the support. ... sm
I may not be "Norma Rae", but she had the right idea. If we could put together 10 MTs who were willing to be on the front line and form some type of "committee" to go to our congressmen and such, maybe we could start the ball rolling toward better working conditions and change things. It really does come down to this: Every day you have a choice. Choice A - do nothing. Choice B - do something to change what's wrong. I'd rather go out doing something than nothing. Maybe I'm going to have to be Norma Rae after all, but I'd sure like a few extras to be there with me.
You know, the Amber Alert System was started by a little girl's mom who wouldn't stop until she got it across the USA. When she couldn't take the murder of her child, she did something about it.
Any MTs who are interested, email me and we'll put our collective intelligence together and see what we can do to improve things. Somebody's got to care enough to do something. At this point, no one else is going to bat for us; we must help ourselves.
It does take support. (sm)
My husband used to try to deter me from doing what I am doing now, but he has seen my mood drop and my countenance become sort of bitter over the last couple of years and it really worried him. He said if it would make me happy, to do it. It took awhile, but he is all for it now--especially on the days when I actually bring in a couple of hundred dollars from what I am doing. It's harder on the days when I make about 25 cents. 
Lynn
Thank you all for your support!
 There have been so many e-mails and posts about my situation with my family and their lack of understanding that I do "work". Only those of you here truly understand. I don't know if there are words quite special enough to say here, but I feel so much better after having heard all the comments. A great big thanks to all of you. So glad you are all here! Hugs!!!!!!!!! I will survive!!! Loved the post referring to Sylvia Browne! Thank you for reminding me of her. I so love her books. I have almost all of them. When I read her work I always feel better. The post regarding what she would say -- so true. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Can't state that enough here.
Thanks, I appreciate the support
It seems there are several of us who feel this way about this. I knew I couldn't be the only one. As for the crabby posts and the hate mail I got this evening, I'm not concerned. There are always one or two in the bunch who are wound too tight. But WOW, you'd think I just shot their puppy or something, huh? What can you do. I'm just happy that it's their problem and not mine.
support - or not
Hey, I was sticking up for you - I said it FMLA can definitely be abused and everybody else pays for it - go back and read my post!
Thanks for the support
I can agree with you on that -they are young - we are not so young - and sometimes that is detrimental to the job search. Plus, after 15 years I have not kept up with office skills (I never thought I would work in an office again) and I really do not want to return to school, although I have thought about coding. However, my son wants me to go to work for one of the airlines so that he can fly for free - he is not really thinking about what is best for me, but what will be of benefit for him.
Thanks for the support!
She's not a horrendous speller, but like every new specialty you learn, the lingo is different.
PC support
Looking for a recommendation for a good/reliable/reputable on-line PC support company. I work from home on my own PC and it would be nice to have technical support w/o having to disconnect PC and take it somewhere. Would appreciate any suggestions (I hope I'm on the correct board; I'm new to this)
CHILD SUPPORT??
 Can ANYONE give me some legitimate service who goes after "deadbeat dads"???? I'm at the end of my emotional rope, and my state (Oklahoma) has not helped much in nailing down this butthead ('cuse my French)....I've talked to a few "services" which IF they get anything from him, they will probably take 60-70% of it!!! Has anyone had any luck anywhere?? Why do these guys (and I'm sure there are gals out there too!) get away with not supporting their kids???
Sorry to vent ...I type for a living (like you) and beating this keyboard sometimes helps me feel better! Thanks for listening (reading ??)....
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