Sue, I'm inviting YOU when I graduate from nursing school...LOL

• Graduation gifts - Mary Franciscus
  • Class of 2006 - Mom of a graduate
  • grad gifts - Prairie Pauper
  • I don't know what the "going rate" would be sm - nm
  • Graduation - OP
  • $0 because high school graduation SM - my thoughts
  • I think it is hysterical how things have changed since I - sm - Laura E.
    • I think it depends where you live. My parents threw a huge party sm - FellowClassOf83 Grad
    • That's more than my folks did, or my husbands. - Be glad they paid your tuition and rent.
      • No I never said that, they paid for college, I only - sm - Laura E.
    • When I graduated high school in 1967, sm - Old and Wise
    • I totally agree. - SM
    • not everyone is like this - my kid graduated - in 1999 and no big hoopla announced...sm
      • True not all do but it certainly seems that more do that not - sm - Laura E.
  • My rule of thumb is a $100 minimum - Sue
    • Sue, I'm inviting YOU when I graduate from nursing school...LOL - nm
      • Okay! Sounds like fun! - Sue
    • would not do more than $25 unless she's exceptionally gracious - sm
    • definition of acquaintance....sm - someone you know and not well...sm
  • graduation - texan
  • If you don't really know her well, I would think $25 would be appropriate. (nm) - At Home MT
  • acquaintance's granddaughter?....nm - $25-$50 gift certificate to some store?....nm
    • Thanks - I figured a $50 check; wasn't sure. - OP
      • You're welcome and to the one who posted..sm - $25-$50 gift certificate to some store?....sm

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to get a BSN. I've been in the health care field, including paramedic, medical assistant, etc., and doing MT off and on throughout the past 25 years.  However, seeing the handwriting on the wall re: the future of MT, I decided not to wait until I didn't have a job to try to find one. I own an MTSO, so I make plenty of money now, probably more than I would make as an RN, but I'm not stupid-- that's only going to last another 5 years...so in the meantime I'm in school! I am in a four year program, it was extremely competitive to get in (1000 applicants, took 70). If you didn't have a GPA of 3.5 you didn't get it. So you will have to take that into consideration. There are long waiting lists at all schools though If you go to a community college 2 year program probably the grades won't be such an issue. You will also have to take plenty of prerequesites, which will keep you busy for 1-2 years. The good news is hopefully your MT job will be flexible enough so you can work around a changing school schedule, plus it's not like you have to drive somewhere to work. With your experience in medical records, you will be very strong in charting and every one in your class, including your teachers, will ask you how to spell words. You will at least be familiar with drugs and their uses, i.e. Aricept is for Alzheimer's.

Although it will be very difficult, know that at least you have a future ahead of you that can't be outsourced to India. My friend just finished the same program 2 years ago and she is working 32 hours per week, 3-11 shift at the community hospital and making over $50K plus benefits. That ought to help you get through school!

but I only work a few hours a week running my MTSO. I would guess you could work full time while doing your pre-reqs part-time but when you actually get into PT school, it probably is almost as grueling as nursing. Your best bet is to SAVE SAVE SAVE over the next few years so you can do full time school when you need to. Speech pathology is a master's program, so you will need to be in school for quite a while. Plus you need to see how competitive the program is. Nursing schools lose 50% of their classes by graduation, and only take the best 10% of applicants, so not an easy task. That being said, there is practically no future in MT and when 100 MT's are competing for the same job, it's going to be sad. So go for Speech Pathology - absolutely!

Peter Jensen, who is head of psychiatry at Columbia:  At least half the children who fit the criteria for ADHD are not diagnosed. Half of the kids diagnosed are not treated (parents get too much flak for "drugging their kids"). ADHD is in 3-5% of population, found in some third world countries too though their survival skills are different from ours so testing doesn't always translate into another culture.  Taking sugar and food additives out of diet (i.e. Feingold diet) only makes a difference for 3 months- then no difference (placebo effect). Interestingly, if ADHD is not treated, those kids have a much higher risk of accidents, drug and other substance abuse, drop out of school, and being arrested for a felony. Oh and one more note for all the folks who say it's from being overstimulated...we don't have a TV in our house and my boy still has ADHD - it's genetic. Plus after an appropriate evaluation by a pediatrician who specializes in ADHD, a social worker and an audiologist, he has been treated with medication and behavior modification since second grade. In the challenge program in every subject possible now (middle school) including Algebra II. Reads at post college level. 

Bottom line is 4 years old is too early to make a diagnosis. Keep her home another year and let her develop at her own rate, but keep an eye on how she is able to compensate at school later. As I said, ADHD is a genetic disease and it could be possible for her to have it. It could also be possible that you tend to be negative towards whatever your ex says, so don't let that sink your daughter's ship...

I'd check with a college counselor/advisor on programs they have for women over 30 to return to academia and enter new careers.  Then I'd ask to take some career tests to see what your interests are and what you'd be be suited for.  Also, there is scholarship money available for women over 30.  Ask about it.  

Since I've already raised my kids, I'd also like to state that jr. high and high school are the years our kids need us at home the most.  Those are the years they can get into the most trouble if left to themselves.  If he's already 9, why not just enter college part-time to finish in about 6 to 7 years?  But definitely go talk to a college counselor.

I just finished school back in Nov. of 2005. I've been looking and looking for a job online and still have had no luck. The only response I seem to get bac from anyone is that I don't have enough experience. Does anyone have any pointers on what I should I do, or how I should approach this field? Please help me!!! I don't know what to do anymore!!

I graduated this year from a community college which used the Career Step program in addition to some other courses.  It was all done online.  I have been working for 3 months, and have learned almost as much from working as from school so far.  The difference is that you are doing 800-1200 lines a day so you are exposed to a lot more information.  However, I don't believe I would have passed the entrance exams without everything I did pick up with the schooling. 

I would definitely encourage formal training of some sort because it is such a competitive industry.  I honestly don't think you could get hired from home, or pass an entrance exam without a good deal of training.  The 98% accuracy they are looking for on their tests is tough to hit without very strong grammar, med terminology, and AAMT/AHDI standards knowledge.  I am not making much money now, but I know within a year it will be different.  I am home and that is invaluable to me!

Good luck! 

student loans and a rural setting normally will not pay as much.  Maybe the practice is small and enough patient's don't come in, maybe lots of them done have insurance or the insurance companies don't have a set fee across the country that they will approve, but what is the norm for a particular region.  More and more larger practices are adding hospitalists so that doctors aren't having to make rounds now, but there was a need to have the office close to a hospital before.  If doctors do surgery or don't have hospitalists, being close to a hospital is important so they can get there quickly in the event of an emergency.  Some docs want to specialize and there might not be enough interest in rural areas.   I also living in a rural setting, though the doctors in our area aren't very good and I would never go to one of them.   I think there are still doctors who want to practice in a rural setting, but they just can't afford to. 

Nursing, well there is your problem.  I have interviewed and tested many nurses who wanted to change careers to MT and not one of them could do it.  Nursing is way different than MT.  Nursing terms and medical terms are different.

Way more notches than I will ever see, LOL..whew..well, guess I better just step back, hun..dont want to mess with a super-super-duper-duper MT.

Steph, I had the same questions you did. I am 43 and returned to school this past January to pursue a career in nursing. I posted on the nursing board, check there to see the answers I got. I have decided that it is never too late to do what you really want to. You are only going to live once. I too worried about the future of MT. I decided that if the profession did continue for another 20 years or so that I needed to work, the direction things were going were not for me. I won't kid you, going to school is harder when you are older. The memory is not what it used to be. However, I guarantee you that you will have a better attitude and better study habits because of your age, and your experience in transcription will give you an edge over other students. You will be amazed at how much you really know because of your transcribing. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

I have been having an awful time getting straight with my company whether to use parenthesis for (Please see nursing notes.) etc.  I get corrected back and forth whether the word "see" has to be involved or if "per" is enough or even just (Nursing notes.) because it is implied to look there.  (No matter how I do it, eventually someone says it should be done the other way.)

To top it off, now someone else has totally not answered that part of the question but has said it has to be more specific, such as (See nursing notes dated 02/12/2008.)  That, see nursing notes is too vague, so not to used (  ).  I switched to doing it that way, and got corrected again!!

I end up feeling like a pain in the butt because I keep trying to get an answer, but I get so stressed out by constantly being told by a different QA person to do it a different way.

Anyone else with an issue like this?  And, how do you all handle this particular issue? 

When I was told by QA to do it one way and the next QA a different way, I copied the e-mail and sent it to the other QA and the QA manager, and asked them point blank, which way is correct.  So from then on they asked everyone to save their messages from QA to make sure everyone was working on the same page so to speak, and that stopped that, because they were told do it this way.   Because, found out different QA people have been taught one way and the next QA person the other.  They all have to get on the same page, choose one way or the other and not stress anyone out.  Hope this will stop for you.