Transcription to Nursing

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.

• Medical transcription to nursing career... - steph
  • Thank you to all who responded... - steph
    • I am stuck going full time because - A Very Old MT
  • I'm getting my RN too... - So blessed!
  • I'm doing it. - A Very Old MT
    • good for you - you go girl
  • Transcription to Nursing - Deborah Bencsis
    • Transcription to Nursing - Unhappy Camper

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Hi all,

I have been a medical Transcriptionist for approximately 14 years, but my first love was nursing and for many reasons too numerous to mention, I did not pursue this passion. Now, I am given the opportunity to go back to school and with the uncertainty of this business (outsourcing overseas, etc.) I am seriously contemplating going back to school and getting into nursing.

I have seen on this board before where some have gone from nursing to transcription. Has anyone done the flip side to this and gone from transcription to nursing? Any and all thoughts would be appreciated, especially from those of you that may have done so.

And I am close to 40, am I too old to even be considering the challenges ahead of me?!

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.

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.

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!

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.

No, they don't, at least not that I am aware of.  They have tuition reimbursement.  Also they do offer training for some high demand jobs and also some of the related hospitals (I'm not sure if they are one of them) will offer to pay your tuition for nursing if you agree to work for them when you graduate for two years.

I am hoping that if I do take this job I could get my foot in the door and when I finally do finish nursing school I could work for them.  I don't know for sure if they hire new grads but it might be worth a shot.  I'm still taking prereqs and the college has a 2-3 year wait for the nursing program so I have plenty of time.  I just don't want to make a mistake by taking a job I'm not sure of when I have a pretty flexible MT job at home.  Decisions, decisions.....

I'm in my junior year of a BSN program, on my second clinical and in the hospital I see nurses working really hard to get all their ducks in a row and pass meds. Not too much therapeutic communication, just keeping those ducks in a row...I already decided a long time ago that acute care wasn't my cup of tea. I went back to school just to get a Bachelor's and felt nursing was the only thing that made sense because of my healthcare experience (paramedic, medical assistant, MT). I then thought about going into the physician assistant program but where I live, it would be a daily 1.5 hour commute for 27 months. I still have a 4th grader and 8th grader so didn't feel I could pull that off. However, at the university I attend, there is a nurse practitioner program. 5 more semesters, classes are scheduled back to back with some saturdays to allow people to work at the same time. Can go part time if you want. If I go full time, there is a grant that will pay for my tuition (nursing shortage, you know). Most of the job postings ask for NP/PA so it looks like I would be in the same job market anyway. Last week in the Chicago Tribune I saw an ad for an NP to work in a physician's office, $75,000 plus benefits.  Some practices will let you be a partner, or you can even have your own (supervised) practice in some states...which will become more of the norm, I think.

I've already worked in a physician's office so I have an idea of the work load....that's where I'm heading. After having the autonomy of a paramedic working in the field, I  know that suits me just fine.  I can go to school longer, but then have 9-5 hours and look at sore throats instead of bed pans

Do you mean that you actually were able to nurse the baby while typing?  Or, did you take a break to nurse and then go back to work? 

I'm only asking because I once talked to a lady who was an MT and was nursing her toddler and she had rigged up a set up to where she could continue to work and the child would just stand next to her (on a chair I believe?) and nurse while she continued to work.  I don't know...It just kind of grossed me out thinking about it.  But, I am all for breastfeeding and of course love MT, so I guess if you can make it work, more power to ya. 

He makes way more than me, but the flexibility of my job makes it possible for him to do his job. 

We are both nurses and met while on the job.  He is 20 years older than me. 

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!