It could be worse...(long story)
Posted By: NamelessMT on 2009-03-14
In Reply to: Anything an MT can do when you have grave concerns about patient care? - Concerned MT
I was an in-house MT at a psych facility, both inpatient and outpatient. This also involved telephone and face-to-fact contact with patients.
There was on patient there whom I'll just refer to as S. S had been discharged from inpatient services to outpatient services. She was a very, very ill woman, and she relied very heavily on her therapist to make it through the day. I did NOT like her therapist on a personal level at all. Huge, overblown ego...just one of those guys you get the "creepy" vibe from. Well, he decided that S relied on him too much and that she need to be transferred to another doc for her primary care. Which I understand, truly I do, so this part I don't hold against him.
Holiday season rolls around. S is looking increasingly horrible as the days go by in the process of transitioning to her new doctor. The day before Thanksgiving, she is calling repeatedly, several times an hour trying to reach the therapist that I don't care for. I tape notes on his door, I catch him in the hallway to tell him she doesn't sound 'right,' and is he going to call her. At this point, I know career-wise I'm skidding on thin ice but there's a human LIFE involved so at this point I'm putting my instincts first, career second. He finally tells me he's allowed her to come in for an emergency session.
She comes to pay me after the session and things ARE NOT RIGHT. I can feel it in very fiber of my being clear down into my gut. After she leaves, I tell the guy that something isn't right with her, I can sense it.
An hour later, her calls start up again. She's sounding increasingly upset and just generally on the edge. Again, notes taped to his door, etc. Finally he leisurely strolls into my area for a cup of coffee. I ask about S. His reply? "You sound just like a hysterical woman. This is how patients react when they're transferred away from a doctor they worship, like S does me. Stop worrying about it."
Well, you all see this coming, I'm sure.
Thanksgiving day, S is found at a local hotel, having poured a 500 count bottle of aspirin into a paper bag and eaten them like popcorn. She committed suicide.
When I found out what had happened, I cannot begin to explain the feeling of liability that consumed me. Should I have gone over his head? Should I have screamed and yelled and threatened to quit unless SOMEONE did SOMETHING to save this woman? Should I have yelled out wondering why all of these highly paid specialists didn't see the writing on the wall, as I did, that this woman was about to take her own life and someone had to stop her?
And if I had, would any of them have taken me seriously or just written my concerns and instincts off as he did, "a hysterical woman?" Yeah, imagine my delight at being told THAT.
They had a memorial for S at the hospital for the staff and patients who knew her to attend. The day of that memorial, I became so emotional that I was sent home. I kept thinking it was somehow MY fault, that I should have overstepped all bound and done SOMETHING.
This all culminated in a meeting between the chief of staff, the therapist involved, his supervisor, and ME. I let it all out and I didn't hold back. I told them I would curse forever the day THAT MAN RIGHT THERE shrugged off his professional obligations, left the ball in MY court, and left ME to live with the guilt of that woman's death, all because his overblown ego wouldn't believe that (a) someone other than HE could sense this woman was getting ready to do something horrible and (b) that expressing concern doesn't mean you're 'hysterical', and (c) had he been enough of a human being and less of an ego-driven imbecile, perhaps he too would have seen this woman falling apart right in front of his eyes.
I still live with the guilt of this. I still flash back when I hear a song from that memorial, or when I see someone isn't sound or acting just right. I make it a policy to NEVER allow myself to let personal feelings enter my career.
But truth be told...I really wish I would have committed career suicide that day and saved her. I really do.
RIP S. Wish I'd have done more.
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I can relate to your story 100%, but be careful. I tried 4 other companies, and they were WORSE BY
FAR! you-know-who looks like a godsend now compared to so many others. I am so glad that I never officially left, as I was an SE for years. Happens to lots of us - we leave and come running back, literally, which is a sad statement of the current state of this industry! Good luck, though I would suggest covering your back.
Here's the story - long message
I have been using the product off and on for the last 7 years, but mostly since November 2002. Let me offer the short version of what’s involved:
1. You need a computer that has a CPU no less than 2 GHz with no less than 1 MB of memory, and it should not have a Cerelon processor.
2. The system requires a sound card that is not integrated into the motherboard. Here is a link for sound cards that work well with Dragon: http://support.scansoft.com/compatibility/default.asp
3. Don’t use the microphone that comes with the product. You need to order one separately. Here’s a link for quality brands: http://www.emicrophones.com/microphones/product_detail.asp?subcatID=1 (I’ve used both the Andrea-700 and VXI Talk Pro in the past, and they are suitable to the task. I currently I use the Sennheiser MD431 II handheld/desktop microphone (it’s worth every penny).
4. Learn the proper way to dictate: http://www.emicrophones.com/articles/index.asp (check all of the links on this page; Marty has a terrific web site). This can make or break the level of accuracy.
5. I prefer Dragon Medical Suite over the Professional version. You want to have the latest version, which is version 8, since it has the highest level of accuracy (you upgrade further at no charge, but you need version 8 on your system). Previously, you could purchase version 6 or 7 off ebay for $250-300 and then upgrade to version 8 for under $200, but it seems that now the upgrade to version 8 is $450. So, you’re best option is to keep an eye on eBay and pounce when you see a good deal on DNS Medical Suite version 8. However, you *can* get by with DNS Professional if you have enough documents for the program to “read.” They say 30-50 MB is sufficient but I disagree. I do acute care and have close to 500 MB, and keep adding all of the time.
6. Will the product benefit you? I would recommend the product to someone who can say “yes” to any of the following: [a] you have physical problems such as carpal tunnel syndrome or arthritis; [b] you don't have a great memory and cannot remember thousands of abbreviations, which means you’re typing things out at least 50% of the time (that includes being proficient at SmarType and Instant Text, which *still* boils down to memorization).
7. You need to put the time and effort into preparing and training the product. You cannot just install it and “Away we go!!!” However, if you’re diligent about the training process (which is continual), you can probably average 350-400 lines per hour with 98-99% accuracy after three to four months of training. This product is not for everyone. Some will do better than others. Success or failure lies in the user, not the product.
8. The more you learn about the product, the higher your level of production. That goes for any product. There are three web sites out there which are dedicated to the product and can answer anyone question you’ve got.
9. Is proofing necessary? Yes, no matter how accurate you think the product is. But, the more you train it, the faster the proofing process. With proofing, I average 350 lph. So, if someone did the proofing for me I would probably dictate 450+ lph.
I think I've covered the initial bases on this. If you want to discuss things further, just email me. 
A story about homeschooling.....very long
First of all, please know that this post is NOT to say that homeschooling is not as good as public or private school, because that is not my belief at all. I have 2 nieces and 1 nephew on my husband's side of the family who are absolute geniuses because of being homeschooled. I don't have a strong opinion one way or the other about this subject, and I had not even heard of it when my children were young. But this is what happened on the other side of my faily.
My nephews, now ages 14 and 10, were homeschooled by my SIL (my brother's wife). Their 1st son started out in first grade in public school, but they had trouble with the teacher at the very beginning so they pulled him out because they thought the teacher thought the child was not advanced enough to be in first grade. I don't know the whole story because they were always so "private" that they never really shared a lot with us, or maybe just me, I don't really know. Anyway, they decided to homeschool. Honestly, we as the family around them did not feel this was the right thing to do (1) because my SIL was sooo protective, (2) we didn't feel she really had enough education herself to do this (even though I do understand the the cirriculum really "tells" you how to teach, and (3) the fact that there is not a homeschool group close by where we live and my nephew was already showing signs of some kind of social "something" where he didn't interact with other children well - I don't know, just somehow kind of off socially.
Anyway, trying to make a long story somewhat shorter here, they did homeschool hime and his younger brother when he became old enough. Everybody like it well enough, but I could tell that these nephews did not thrive on it nearly as well as my nieces and nephew on the other side of the family, who had really great parents and a really geat support group. Then....my SIL came down with cancer -- melanoma with brain mets -- and for the 14 months or so before she died, the boys used videos and the help of my mother and their other grandmother to continue to homeschool. After their mother died last September, they homeschooled with a friend for the remainder of the calendar year, at which point the friend bailed on them and my brother enrolled them in a Christian school in our area.
Now they are both having MAJOR trouble in school, math particularly. The oldest one has tons of homework and obviously really does not know "how" to study. Sometimes he gets long assignments early and has a few days to work on them, but he "forgets" to start on them, or "forgets" to look at his agenda where he has it written, etc. The kids at school make fun of him and he is almost a complete social misfit - really just because of his personality and, I think, because he has only had 1 or 2 friends all these years, and those were children of a friend of his mother's who has now pretty much dropped out of the family's life so ... poof! - there went those friends. The younger one is having trouble also but not so much socially. But the older one is completely miserable - here he is, beginning his teenage years and no friends at all, his mother gone, living way out in the country where there is not much to do since he "doesn't play anymore" as he puts it, and homework lots of night from 3:30 or 4 p.m. to 10 or 10:30 - plus, on top of it all, he has developed a smart-mouth which is driving his overloaded dad absolutely crazy!
My brother now says that maybe the homeschooling experiment wasn't such a good idea after all. :(
Just left a long comment with the story.
I just left a long comment in the comment section. Any little bit helps at this point. Thank you so much if you are the one in the story or connected to it somehow.
Worse. Far, FAR worse. (no mssg)
^
I hate Instant Text. It is expensive, long long learning
curve, and too much distraction for me.
How long should I wait after applying for a position before I follow-up. It has been as long as two
without hearing from some. Just wondering if I should send an e-mail to follow-up to see if they received my resume or not. I don't want to offend anyone but feel two weeks should be long enough for someone to at least acknowledge my resume and that I have applied for a position. Right now I would accept anything even a note saying no thanks. Any advice would be appreciated. I haven't had to apply for a job for the past 10 years so I am a bit rusty at this. Thanks again for any advice.
Congrats! How long have you been a MLS and how long did you study for the test!
Please see message. I have three daughters with long, long hair.
I also have long hair down to my waist and my three girls have hair that long too. My daughter brought them home from school last year. I was devestated and grossed out!!!! I have never had to deal with lice. Anyway, we did the treatments and two of my girls broke out in a severe rash with the OTC stuff. Their little heads were so sore!! I thought I was being meticulous with eggs, only to find them hatching again down the road. A nurse at the pediatricians office suggested I try oil to suffocate them since my girls were allergic to the lice solution. I bought a huge bottle of veggie oil and dumped it on all three heads, plus my own. I then wrapped the heads in platic wrap and then a towel. I left this on for 30 minutes. It takes a while to wash out the oil, but we never, ever had the lice or eggs again!!! If you try this, make sure you put on an old shirt and put a towel around your shoulders. Obviously we were desperate, but we all have such long hair and very thick hair so I was willing to try anything. And I figured there was no chemicals involved so that was pretty safe. And it sure did help my littles ones since their scalps were pretty raw from the solution. Hope this helps and Good luck!
It's been a long, long time since I've used a C-phone, sm
but I do think jobs can be paused.
got one even worse...
18 minutes of dictation = 42 lines! After he spelled out half of the report for me and then said uh, uh, uh between every word, I wanted to scream.
It could be worse, but
MTs are hard to come by, especially good ones. Take a look at the jobs offerings, you don't have to sit back and take it. I would suggest you go turn on the news for a while and picture yourself in someone else's shoes. You have no reason to complain because you have options.
Believe me..it gets worse..(sm)
I live in Kansas...and top-out pay for the hospital here in this rinky dink town is $8.46 an hour....yes ladies and gents...clean up the coffee you just spit all over your screen...I said $8.46 an hour. I have to work for a national to get more competetive pay because it's sure not going to come from this area! 
Yes, she is usually MUCH worse
nm
Yes and yes...what's worse
I don't know if they still are, as I haven't watched in the last few weeks, but on Guiding Light, Tammy, who is Cassie's daughter, is in love with and dating Johnathan, Reva's son. Well, Cassie and Reva are sisters...so that makes Tammy and Johnathan cousins.....talk about GROSS!!!!!
OR WORSE
USE YOUR IMAGINATION, AND I HEARD IT. Doctor was not alone.
What's even worse...
It having reporters who consistently can't get one thing right. I'm the administrative/performance head of an Irish dance school in a fairly large community, and every article the local paper has done on the school has been, well...fiction! You give them fact, and they turn it into something that doesn't even vaguely resemble the truth.
Having taken journalism in college, I remember the adage "truth in reporting." And let's think about "fact checking."
Seems it doesn't exist any longer.
Though it is at the expense of the school, I no longer want our achievements butchered into fiction by the local rag.
Worse.
:(
For better or worse....
I'm not afraid to leave blanks. I will try my hardest to figure out what they are saying, but if I can't even figure out a "sounds like", I don't see the point in driving myself crazy.
Definitely WORSE!
Can't stand Barbara and her scrunched up face that doesn't move. The football player's wife is extremely boring and never has anything interesting to say. Joy is okay although she can be obnoxious at times and just can't make the show by herself. Definitely don't want to watch Rosie. The mere sound of her voice gets on my nerves, not to mention I don't like anything about her.
What is even worse
is when you are being paid 3 or 4 cpl to edit a voice recognition report like the one you described. After editing VR reports for the last few years, I have come to the conclusion that, unless the MT is on a creampuff account, VR is not a big money maker for the transcriptionist. The transcription companies are the ones who benefit from VR. They charge the client for regular lines, but only pay the MT half the amount to edit the report, even if the MT ends up having to retype half of the report.
Lol.. oh man. which one is worse
I guess I'll take Sanjaya... or I like to call him Escalito. He reminds me of Jack's Black's sidekick in Nacho Libre.
Worse day ever
I feel awful today. While transcribing using my C-phone and word..we had a power surge where the electricity shut off for only like a minute. I was at the end of my report and thought it was saved...when the power came back on the job was off of my phone and I just went ahead and transcribed everything but my last job...had written down all my demographic info for my records and just glanced in my to send folder to see that the job was missing!!!
Once a job is off of my C-phone, even dialing back into the system and selected by job number will not allow you access to the report. I was so upset that then on top of all of this I accidentally popped my last job out of my que without transcribing it
I feel so terrible!! I'm still in training too, probably gonna get canned for this!! I really needed the job and have spent so many off hours logging QA reports, saving templates, making shortcuts, etc!!! I wish this account had a way to retrieve a previously transcribed report, especially for the Transcriptionist it was assigned to....has this ever happened to any of you? I haven't been on an account before that you can't retrieve a voicefile...I feel really awful..overall I love the account and was really doing well...
Thanks for letting me vent.
I know of one that is worse,
A gum-chewing, lip-smacking, flatulent, yawning ESL neuroradiologist who sits by a nursing station with loud call bells and giggling women nearby who talks on a cell phone to a girlfriend simultaneously with dictationg. Yes, I will go to heaven. I keep hoping he will move on to another hospital, but so far no luck.
Just ask, The worse they can say is no. Then
x
yep, it can always be worse
Doesn't matter what subject you're talking about, it can always be worse and usually is for someone else. It's always nice to hear what someone else is paying for gas so I know that my $4.00 a gallon isn't so darn bad.
it could be worse
always.
I used to think I made good money but that was before I had a mortgage and the price of gas wasn't through the roof... I don't know what other people make, which is why I posted below what an appropriate salary to ask for is... but nobody seems to talk about how much they are actually making...
It could be worse
I would love to know where you work. I'm not making anywhere near that.
Yes, there are a lot of places worse off, but
there are a lot of places that are a lot better too. For the money and the resources that this country has, we do not nearly take care of business the way we should. Do you know that there are countries that do not have as much money as we do or resources, yet every citizen is entitled to healthcare by way of government paid insurance. Do you know how many people we have in the US that are uninsured? Do you know how many countries offer paid maternity leave for mothers? I could go on, but I won't. The US is a lot better than a lot of places, but we should be ashamed at how we handle things a lot of the times. America is full of a lot of greedy people, and we wonder why other countries hate us. Do you know that the cost of the president's inauguration party would have been way more than enough to armor every single vehicle that our military had? Do you know how many lives or injuries could have been saved if only the vehicles were armored better? Where are our priorities there?
I can always be worse, I'm trying to be positive
You could be one of those in New Orleans, then would the pay cut mean anything to you? You would be happy to be alive. Why is it that only what affects us personally matters? This is what is wrong with society. My husband took a 25% pay cut a year ago, now the company he works for is bankrupt, slated to shut down in 9 days. He has worked there for 35 years. Be thankful you have a job, or get a new one.
Very true, it's getting worse (sm)
We have lost against a monopoly and it doesn't look like there is anything that will save our jobs now. There will be jobs for a while, but probably at such low pay they will not be worth doing. JMO 
you know what would make it worse?
if you started typing 40mg and another Editor corrects you to do 40 mg. AW MAN!
gonna get worse
Check out this email I got:
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Seriously could not be any worse that the lack of (sm)
respect we get as CMTs!! Seriously, we catch all the malpractic, flag it for them, and not even a Happy Holidays! dictated to us on any dictation, I correct that one doctor did say enjoy your holidays! I agree Applebees is looking better all the time!
example of censorship at its worse
xx
was far worse than this XL Superbowl....nm
x
But we're not - and it's getting worse.
NM
Things could ALWAYS be worse, but that
.
I think the worse are USUALLY after July - SM
Of course that doesn't mean there won't be any but they are usually more and rougher ones after it's been hotter for longer, etc. One more thing you could think about is what we did - book one on the GA beach or South Carolinas - it always seems like they don't have as many or as strong. We've booked at Jekyll the end of June b/c it is very family oriented there and more private plus less severe storms in general. Good luck. I've been worried about the same things
Ouch....worse than me...sm
It's been 10 years for me too, but I do occasionally manage a weekend if I work 14 hour week days. Usually work 11-12 hour days. I'm having a light day today which is extremely unusual. I have 4 years to go and sometimes not sure I'll make it!
Of course some non-ESLs can be worse...
than the ESLs. Having said that, I prefer long reports because it forces me to type more. I don't stop typing until I have completed the report. I am happy to see a 4-minute report or higher. However, if it is a clear dictator, it doesn't matter whether it is a long or short report because I will usually forget to take a break and just keep typing away.
me
I agree - they are getting worse and
ER doctors are the worse and I'm not talking ESL here - talk about motor mouths.
Is it just me, or are physicians getting worse
with dictation. I transcribe several that use speaker phones to dictate. I think ER docs are the worst. Not only do they use the speaker phone, but that talk at a rate of about 150 miles per hour. Do they not realize (or maybe they just don't care) how difficult they are to transcribe. I really don't understand why the companies we work for allow this. 
Worse now than 5 years ago.
One thing you might want to think about is that most of the bigger companies now use their own proprietary software platforms. All of them I have worked on have been big and cumbersome, one size fits all, made to do everything for the least proficient MT, and all have cut my line counts dramatically (filling in a lot of demographic info, no way to integrate my own productivity tools, waiting and waiting for the platform to communicate with the bogged down server, etc).
Good luck!
It COULD be a lot worse. And clients and QA are much more likely
to comment on obvious padding than grammar errors, so I'd keep my head down if I were you. Just do it the right way. You say there is no QA, but if you get yearly reviews or anything, do mention you would appreciate any feedback on quality that they were able to provide. But I'd rather work with somebody who is padding their reports a bit than somebody whose work is full of grammar errors or real medical errors like I've seen so much of in the hospitals where I have worked.
Best & Worse Response
I am pretty new at this, but the best thing I have experienced thus far is a true sense of freedom. I am not chained to the physicians' offices where I had worked for the last 5 years. I have not had any negatives--not yet.
I agree, too, and what is worse is when...
...an MT proves time and time again that they cannot do the job and fail repeated reviews, but their supervisor insists they can't live without them because they work nights. And senior management supports the supervisor rather than acknowledging proven lack of quality and cleaning house.
Yep, it was time for me to get out of heading up QA altogether at that point. I'm happy transcribing again. It's less stress, and I am making more money.
I find men to be just as bad, maybe worse! nm
o
just did, and feel worse sm
maybe that's my answer! My hands started to feel better (had CTS for 3 years), I felt like a human being again, and didn't feel like crying at my desk all day.
I actually felt NORMAL for the first time in about 10 years.
Thank you for your input... it probably elicited a different response than you expected! LOL
Oooooo -- that's even worse! nm
.
Problem's even worse
I didn't know what the VPN was, so I just connected to the hospital. Followed your instructions and upgraded. There were about 24 files for EXText Client and 9 files for something else. Everything upgraded okay. When I was done I double-clicked on the EXText Client icon and the system told me I had to upgrade and then re-run the program. I clicked OK, it upgraded one file, I clicked on the icon again, and once again it told me I had to upgrade ... and over and over and over again.
Any other suggestions, 'cause I'm worse off now than I was before.
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