I am not one to normally burn bridges. I am just upset *sm*

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I think the authors of it are bipolar anyway because they change so many snippy little things between every edition.  The doctors could care less about the BOS.  I mean really, who elected the AAMT to speak for all of us?  I certainly never joined their offshore-loving organization.

I think it sounds pretty normal.  I type specifically x-ray accounts right now, that is the job I was hired to do, and I feel that after years of typing, this is about all a I want to do!  But, I recently accepted a position as floater, and that means I have to do stat xrays, but also typing x-rays that need done in the TAT that is specified for each account....but when the x-rays are low, I hve to type whatever account needs help...this could be surgeries, H&P, etc......and lately, as you said, the xrays have been low, and i have been getting more and more of the other accounts! 

It can be confusing and frustrating because each, as you probably know, have different account specifics and different things that need to be done.  The only reason I like this and have agreed to do this is that the company I work for offered me full time but at an hourly rate.....I think this is awesome and really the only reason I don't get too upset with the different accounts that I type....I think, well yes they are time consuming, but I am getting paid by the hour, which gives me a little breathing room to look up information and make sure I am doing the report in the correct way!

Good luck, and if you would like to know the company I am working for, as I have found they are the BEST to work for.....just let me know, and I would be glad to share that information with you!

Been doing MT for 31 years and have come to the bottom.  I'm quitting the national I've worked for for 6 years because of the stress  of working for them and am going to try to transcribe part time and edit part time.  Haven't been allowed to take a day off since end of Sept.  The only problem is, will have no health insurance and now I'm probably going to be even more stressed about my finances.   Am looking to get out of MT altogether-one way or another.  The national sapped my will to MT!  (and almost my will to live ).  I'm not a fast typist anymore (and I say typist because the national didn't want an MT, just a fast typist), in fact, it's sometimes physically painful to type and production is the only key these days.  In fact, had the national tell me they didn't want knowledge and experience, just production.   Very demoralizing to have someone tell you that.    Anyway, out of there in one week! 

HOw do you combat burn out from MT. MT is all I can do right now. I do not want to start at the bottom of any job....Maybe a WalMart Greeter for a few days a week would work, but I am not about to go to work in an office where some 20-yo chicky will tell this late 50-yo chicky what to do.....

so how do you deal with burn out?

 just kidding of course !

if and I repeat if you are doing that much you will

crash and burn.  you either pace yourself in MTing

or you leave pretty quick.

but unless you are doing only OPs or only ERs i

honestly doubt you are doing quality work of acute care

with all the crap that comes with the docs not being able to

enter right numbers, say right names, say decent drug doses

or even say the drugs correctly.  nope doing all the leg work

necessary to do most acute care, you won't do 2800 lines in a

decent number of hours a day to have a life.

I know how you feel.  Been doing this job for 22+ years and I feel like I have to fight myself to start each day, my productivity has gone to the dogs and I need a major break, which is impossible to get.  The apathy concerns me because I've never been so unmotivated in my entire life.  I cannot afford to take off and I cannot afford to keep doing what I'm doing.  The more burnt out I get, the less I produce and the less I produce the less time off I accrue (as in zilch).   I understand the rut you're in.  I sometimes wake up crying, knowing I'm going to pound my brains out for nothing.  The harder I try, the worse it seems to get.  I used to be a huge producer in the past but I am so fried right now that I can barely stand to log in to work.  My back hurts, my shoulders hurt and I'm so sick of sitting here watching my life go by that I feel like I've melded into an extension of my computer and foot pedal.  I've never been this burnt out before and it has taken me by surprise.  My family, friends and even my physician are on my case about not having a life but I don't know what else to do for now. 

There was a time when burn-out was recognized in this field and steps taken to prevent it.  But now the theme to MT is "mush, mush, mush! 24/7."  I sometimes envision someone cracking a whip behind me like a horse, then putting me in the barn wet.  And like that horse that has gotten too tired and just lays down, I'm becoming completely ineffective.

Did over 250 minutes (100 being mininum) of dictation in 7 hours with breaks...stayed at the grind while others workers too their time, chatted and barely got the required 100 minutes... I've learned to slow down and just be happy producing quality work instead of having to be the "top" because I've found you can't keep that pace up forever. I was young and needed the money and did what I had to do. Do it while you can.

I have my speakers plugged in behind the tower as I was told that if you plug your earphones directly into the tower you could blow out the sound card.  I'm no maven but it's what I was told. 

outta style, so I'm no help there.  However, I do have joint pain and sometimes it really flares up and almost cripples me...especially in the ol' digits.  I snagged a pair of these things called "Smart Gloves" from the office supply store and they have been a LIFESAVER on days like those.  I don't use them all the time, because they do slow me down a tad, but when I still need to work and really need the support, these serve their purpose beautifully.  After a few days of using them to support my hands, I'm right as rain again as if it were a weekend. 

I found a link to show you which ones I use.  They've got this bubble of little beads that lands at your palm and at first I thought it would be irritating, but it really is quite a comfortable unit.  I really like that the spine of it, the piece that goes along the back of your hand, is not metal...it's like a super rigid piece of flexible foam...quite comfortable and I highly recommend them. 

Best of luck whatever you go with.  Taking lots of breaks and running your hands under warm/hot water really helps ease the pain too.

Here's one link to that glove I use, but you can "Google" many more:
http://www.imakproducts.com/products/smart_glove.htm

I could spit! Recently since I am still a  'student' at that online course in Utah I read a post by the CEO and felt the need to comment. It seems that not only did he suggest that contributions be made to FEMA, but also that students in Louisiana and other state with hurricane damage call THEM at their 800 number. This seemed to me absolute lunacy, as telephone service in La, MS  is vrtually non-existant. Perhaps posting that ONLINE was equally stupid, how were students supposed to get online?

However, what really gets me upset is that after making my reply I was 'deleted' from their website.

Apparently free speech isn't appreciated at that school, and neither was my suggestion that the school which has a reliable phone connection, themselves call their students in Louisiana and Mississippi. But hey, what do I know huh?

Don't mean to upset anyone, but I LIVE in Louisiana.

cheryl formerly known as nola71112

My sister didn't know she had an aneurysm and she never had headaches at all, save for the occasional overindulging in fine wine, until that night.

The doctors never really even pinpointed exactly where it originated after dozens and dozens of tests. (angiograms, ultrasounds, CT scans, MRIs). She was told that she met the "criteria" for this type of aneurysm because she was female and over 50. (52). That is not too comforting for me as I am 6 years younger that she is.

She was very healthy before this happened with the exception that she was a very heavy smoker. Glad to say that she gave it up and hasn't gone back to that.

My doctor told me that basically it really isn't something you can spend your time worrying about. Many people live with known aneurysms and nothing ever happens with them.

At first I thought, "oh my gosh, I've only 6 more years," but you can't worry about it I guess.

Again, I'm sorry if I upset you.

Take care.

I am so frustrated that I am in tears, and that takes some doing for me.  Is this the norm with being an IC, or what....

When I started with this MTSO, the paydays were on the 10th and the 22nd of the month.  I loved it, because my husband was paid on the opposite weeks, so we got a paycheck every week.  Well, the paychecks started coming on the 11th and 25th.... then the 12th and the 26th... you get the drill.  Then she just officially moved the pay periods to the 15th and the last day of the month. Now this caused me some headaches, sure, because I had to move some auto withdrawals and such, but I supposed that was her right to do as the business owner...

Except now the paychecks are coming later and later AGAIN!  Well, she had sent out an email saying that she would not be able to pay us on the 31st, but that she would pay us on the first.  So I did something I NEVER do.... I wrote a check to my daughter's preschool with no money in the bank, only because my MTSO said, "Don't worry, I'll put it in on the 1st."

Guess what? I got an email today saying that she would NOT be paying us until Friday the 3rd.  There will not be enough money in the bank to cover this.  Now, it won't bounce it to the preschool, because my bank will cover it.  They will, however, charge me a big ol' honkin' $35 fee for this.

I am SO mad!  Is this normal? Do MTSOs just think they can pay us whenever they feel like it?  Her excuse was that she didn't get paid by the hospital on time, so she couldn't pay us on time.  Excuse me, but this is the same MTSO that said, when my phone lines were down, "I don't care what your personal problems are, I need the work!"  Well, I need my MONEY!  If she has to take out a personal loan using her car as collateral, then she needs to do that in order to pay us. I admit that this is only my third MTSO, but two of the three did this "pay when I can" thing. I'm just used to a much more professional system.

So my question, after this long-winded post, is the following:  Is this normal?  Do the rest of you ICs have trouble being paid on time? 

(PS - In a recent disagreement that the MTSO and I had, she told me that she was having money problems, too, and that she was declaring personal bankruptcy. That's not a good sign for being paid on time in the future, you think? 

Yeah, I said I was going to look for another job, but I started slacking on that when I cooled off because I love my accounts.  However, I don't want to be the last rat off a sinking ship.  I'm just SO upset.  This is not how a business should be run!)

 (P.S. - Grammar and punctuation police please take the night off.  It's midnight, I'm typing through tears, and I just don't care enough to edit, okay? Thanks.)