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MT vs nurse

Posted By: mt turned nurse on 2009-04-09
In Reply to: My sister is an RN and we make just about the same. - Except...

Believe it or not, I would rather work at home as an MT for $10 an hour than ever again work in a hospital as an RN, even if the pay exceeded $25 per hour. 


My computer doesn't bleed, and 15 jobs don't demand/require my attention all at once.  I still only work on one report at a time. 


In other words, as an MT, no one is depending on me for their very survival, and I rejoice that I no longer have to depend on a broken system or other individuals to provide my patient the care he/she needs. 


Even for those hospital systems that claim to be not-for-profit, the bottom line and top priority is profit.  Therefore, they plan to run on as few individuals as the laws will allow.  Short-staffing and overwork was a fact of life at every hospital that I ever worked.  Home care had its own challenges. 


Again, my computer gives me relatively little trouble when compared to my experiences as a nurse working face-to-face with sick and needy people in a sick system that does not always provide what the patient needs when the patient needs it.  The money may sound enticing, but the reality was extreme frustration for this nurse!!


 


 




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Sue, a former nurse AND can do over 600? SM
I'm impressed. Regarding your last point, a little present:

For VR, use your expander's ability to record your Keystrokes to set up macros for all the corrections you typically do, both of words and punctuation. Especially punctuation.

If you jump from word to word, you end up on the next word when you need to insert a comma behind, right? So enter the keystrokes you use to do this in your expander: backspace-comma-space (to return to the first letter of the next word). Then give that macro a 1-keystroke name. Then start doing the same for all the typical and more involved corrections you do. Copy macros you can't make yourself from others.

You're going to find your Expander incredibly helpful, and I'm guessing you'll be breaking 600 typically.
Nurse practitioner?
Unless the nurse practitioner is shadowing the doctor, which they usually have their own schedules to follow, how can she accurately dictate his patients??? Great suggestion though?
You are right, not a nurse, never wanted to be one
because my math lacks a lot but always good with spelling and fast typist so MTing was something that fit right in with me. Having said that, why do you stay with this profession if unhappy? I have made as much as a nurse in years past but like everyone else in this job, the pay fell. I have worked Christmas Day but I usually plan to either work very early and take off later for family dinner or if I had young children I would work later in the day or with TTS the last year worked early Thanksgiving and took off Christmas. Most jobs out there are a lot less bending than ours. I worked so many years out in the regular places am glad to work at home, finally.
another nurse turned MT already sm
complaining about the hours, job, etc. If you liked the hours as a nurse, go back to being a nurse.

Geeze I get so tired of everybody in every profession wanting to switch to MTing just to work at home!
So you saying you're "still" a nurse then, SD?
LOL
...or when a nurse is dictating for doctor...

and he doesn't know how to pause dictation.  Last week I listened to four 30 minute dictations with only about 100 lines to show for it!  Finally the office taught him how to use the system!  Rookies ARGHHH!



nurse ratchett (not sure of spelling)
xxx
As Nurse Diesel (love that name) indicates, SM
the number of lines required really isn't that high to reach the incentive level, but you have to produce them on what I presume are the four highest-volume days of the week. Also, Webmedx provides all MTs with the ShortHand Expander program, classes in using it and developing other productivity skills, experts for personal one-on-one help, MT forums for sharing abbreviations and tips, and other help and encouragement designed to bring those line counts and paychecks up.
Hey Nurse Diesel!! I just wanted to thank
I love your posts and do recognize you when I browse these forums.  I keep a constant eye on the Company Forum, keeping track of good company reviews versus bad, etc.  I just wanted to thank you for coming back on and giving an honest update of your situation.  I used to love my old MTSO, and gave glowing reviews, which were true of  my personal situation, but when things went sour on me, I also tried to share that experience as well. It really helps potential MTs in getting a truthful outlook of a company, rather than just the emotional trashing posts or emotional praising posts.  Not saying you ever did that, just trying to point out to others the flavor of some posts. It also lets others know that they are not alone in their ups and downs with a particular company.  Things are just so unpredictable, even within 1 MTSO. One MT is having their heyday, while another MT on the same account is hemorrhaging $$ due to no work. Its just so bizarre these days.  I had thought of Webmedx for a while, fell for the old employer of the year stuff. But I was not accepted as the recruiter doesn't like me from a past experience at another company, and while I understood on 1 hand, it honestly wasn't fair, and I thought I was missing out on perfection. Their loss, though, not mine. I had my choice of employers, and went with my other first choice.  I am so glad that I was rejected at Webmedx, as no work situations would have killed me, not acceptable at all in my boat!   So, sometimes rejection comes with a silver lining!  And the company I went with, while it had been touted for years as the BEST MTSO in the world, well.... it sure is lacking. Looking back over the years at the posts, there were 1 or 2 poor MTs who would try to share a negative experience with this company, and they would be crucified, with  the usual blame that they must be lowsy MTs. Well, truth be told, the ones with bad experiences were telling the absolute truth, probably even minimizing their plight, and this company is no more a wonderful company to work for than the next MTSO.  I am so depressed about our industry, but I do take comfort that I am not alone in my struggles - I am a top notch professional MT, but this nonsense of no work, etc., just cannot be avoided it seems, by any of us.  It has been a humbling experience, as I honestly used to read posts about MTs with no work,and somehow I felt that in some way it had to be the MT. Maybe they only worked the 5th Tuesday of each month, maybe they only typed Consults, etc.  So I have learned that skill seems to have nothing to do with anything anymore. The job itself and then the work versus no work, versus work type seems to be just a plain old crap shoot, plain and simple. I may as well spend my days down the street in Vegas, gambling at the casinos! At least I could count on free drinks!   Well, again, thanks for sharing your experiences, calmly and honestly, both the good and the bad.  It makes at least this MT feel like I am not alone in these trying times. 
I wonder if an MT can make as much money as a RN nurse? Curious about that
and wondering
Nurse and exMQ pretty much illustrate SM
the range of possibilities. The rate is high, but it's not a gift--you need to be a good producer for those nice chunks of change to show up in your bank account.
Someone understands my Nurse Diesel reference! Yay! LOL nm
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