some various comments you all might relate too

When asked what I do for a living, I tell them, the response I get the most is this "oh, i've heard of that.  Been wanting to get into it as a side job."  Gee thanks. 

Or "Did you have to go to school for that?"  And actual disbelief when I tell them I did. 

Or "Don't you get sick of not being around people?"  Again...gee thanks.  What am I a shut in?  I still at least go out and check my mail a couple times a week!

Or "Whats that"  Blank look on face or extreme disinterest or disappointment.  Gee, thanks again. 

And here's the meanest one that I received from a guy I was dating for awhile "Are you just afraid of being successful?"  Hmmm.....can I get a gee thanks?

• Just need to vent ... get tired of clods who hear what I do and say "easy job." grrrr sm - long-time MT
  • I hear ya long time-MT - Crittersmom
  • some various comments you all might relate too - i've received throughout MT career
    • I've heard "why don't you go out and get a real job" - Kat
  • Take a look at this... - TM
  • I posted on this a while back...sm - another grrrr
  • "easy job" - Meghan
  • I hear you! - alwaysworking
    • I love using that one. People look at me like I am stupid! nm - TM
  • MT from home - Dee
  • How many of you get asked how to get into it? - tia
  • Totally understand what you're going through. Just - Jan
  • times like this I hate the HIPAA laws - Snow Bunny
  • I hear ya. - louloubel
    • I'm lucky..I have the opposite problem. - gmg
      • Lucky You! Wish we were all that lucky! - Brandy

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I think I'll start *borrowing* that phrase!  LOL again!

Thanks for the laugh, and thanks for posting. 

I'm with you.  I'll never have only 1 account.  I have 2 right now and working on getting my third. 

Good luck to you and everybody!

Except that now, my kids think I work 24/7 because when they were little, I had to much of the time (no support).  I did work 20-hour days at times, but not now they are grown.

Mother's Day: 

Tad (as in Tadpole, the pole was dropped, he is nearly 6'7"):  Hi mom!

Hiya Tad.

Tad:  You working? Gotta minute to talk?

It is my weekend...I don't work Sunday or Monday.

Tad:  You are NOT working??? You take TWO days off?  Ummm so you can talk for a minute?

Sure.

Tad: You really aren't working??

I trained 'em too well.  DD is here for the summer and she is so respectful of my working hours too.

x

Not only was I new to the job, I was new to transcription, and one of the people I had to type reports up for was a russian gum chewer!  The job was at night too, so I had no one to call to "lend an ear" to help me translate and had to wait until the next day...I think I averaged about $75 for the week...and that was putting in about 12 hour nights in addition to waiting for daytime help so I could fill in blanks and not look like a complete tool.  I remember balling my eyes out like a baby thinking we would have to sell our house and lose everything we worked so hard for...just because I couldn't understand this one dictator that was 95% of my bread-n-butta at the time.

I didn't know I could ask for samples of the dictators work then either, that's how new I was.  Once I got a hold of a couple of those bad boys, it was so much easier...that and with some time I was much better off, financially and mentally. 

I guess what I'm trying to say is try and hang in there.  Maybe it's a test of strength so to speak...baptism by fire and all that.  Good luck and know you are not alone!    

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.

During the 20+ years that I was an IC (from my mid-20s to mid-40s) I toyed off and on with the idea of health insurance ... and even had it for a while when my state had a great subsidized plan available. Good timing on that because I ended up having a hysterectomy which came in a bit over $10K, insurance paid all but $1500.

Then I went again without insurance for a while, then had it as an employee, now am IC again and don't have it...but I will be getting it now in the next month or so, now that my budget is ready for it.

I've always been healthy as a horse, and even though I'm in my 50s now I still feel like I'm invincible - LOL! The difference today is that I don't have to look to far to find someone who was financially devastated when something unexpected came up and they didn't have health insurance. Even a fall from a ladder with resultant broken bones can cost in the thousands these days ... and I don't have a savings account to cover that kind of unexpected expense.

Insurance is like preventative medicine, as far as I'm concerned -- the risks of not doing it are so much higher than the actual cost of doing it! Especially with today's cost of medicine.

BTW, you can only deduct one-half of your insurance premiums as an IC, unless something has changed in recent years.

Good luck with your decision! 

First of all, everything you say may be true of the mother regarding her suspicion, but as I always try to do before I criticize and pass judgment on others, first try to mentally "walk a mile in her shoes."  You might be thinking the same thing under similar circumstances.

Secondly, she signed a waiver for her daughter to go on that trip with full knowledge that these "adult children" were not going to be supervised by these chaperones in any fashion other than just being "available" if they needed them and to help out if anyone lose their passport or suitcase, stuff like that.  The mother knew full well why she was letting her daughter got to Aruba... TO DRINK AND PARTY!   If she didn't know that, then she's a dense as they come.  I wouldn't give my daughter 2 cents towards a trip to Aruba at age 18.  There's only one reason to go to an island like that, to drink.  If the beach is what you want, we've been known to have a few beaches here in the USA, but they don't want that, they want to be free to party it up.  So you can't blame the chaperones, at least not in my opinion.

Thank you for your posting; I find it very useful.  However, I want to comment on the fact that, during training, I never heard of the BOS and received absolutely no feedback.  So, to think that newly trained MTs are ahead of the others, is not necessarily correct.

As a matter of fact, the very first time that I ever heard of the AAMT Book of Style was upon receiving the graded and corrected FINAL EXAM for my course (Career Step) which made reference to my use of a dangerous abbreviation.  I then inquired as to WHAT IS A DANGEROUS ABBREVIATION, at which time someone did RESEARCH and, after a few days of research, reported to me that she had to ask someone else and discovered that a dangerous abbreviation was defined by AAMT, as mentioned in the BOOK OF STYLE.  I immediately purchased a copy of the book and studied it on my own.

I think that none of us fits into any one category.  I hate it when I am stereotyped, especially with regards to what a potential employer may think I know or do not know, or may be capable of doing, as determined by the exact number of years that I have been working.  There are plenty of exceptionally good companies out there who have totally rejected me due solely to the fact that I have less than the number of years of experience that they require, while my current employer constantly gives me the most difficult jobs because I am, in his mind, "one of the best."    Of course, I can't wait until I have those required number of years of experience so that I can reject those very companies that rejected me back in the days when I only had 2 years of experience!!

I appreciate this thread.  It has been very educational. BTW, not only can it be a difficult situation when you work for a "family" business with the wife being the office manager, but I have had negative experiences as a patient when the wife was the doctor's manager.  It just doesn't work out.

While I agree that "other duties as assigned" can be interpreted in many ways, there must be a limit to this.

What I have learned from this thread.

1.  If you have two professions such as Nurse AND MT, write a separate resume for each.  Whether or not you reveal your transcription skills to an employer who is employing you as a nurse is your decision, but should not be required.
2.  As an IC MT, write your own contract.  Stipulate that your MT "business" includes certain duties only pertaining to medical transcription and performed at your location during the hours that you decide.
3.  Stipulate that because MT is your private business entity, due to conflict of interest (or whatever terminology you decide), you do not conduct your private business functions during the same hours as the employee job unless you want to and it is clearly understood that there will be separate charges.
4.  Once you have an established business and income for that business you may need some kind of business license or need to be registered.  The laws vary determined by your state and/or city, county, etc.  However, usually you do not need to register your business until it is actually making a profit.  In the meantime, the existence of your business on paper would offer you some kind of protection against an employer who has employed you as a nurse and is attempting to take advantage of your transcription skills. 
5.  If an employer attempts to have you do transcription on the side, out comes the contract.
6.  Do not offer discounts to anyone simply because they are a friend or employer.  Treat them all the same, require them to pay extra for extra services.  Spell it all out in the contract.  In other words, protect yourself and set them up in the beginning so that they know they will not be able to take advantage of you.

Last I looked, the nurse practice ACT, at least for RNs, is rather specific and does not include such tasks as mopping floors or transcribing dictation.  You sound like a very nice person who has attracted someone who seeks to take advantage of your kind nature.  Don't let them do it.