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I enjoy being alone at home, but I've got one home sick from school already.

Posted By: not nuts on 2005-09-07
In Reply to: This may seem nuts, but.... - sad MT :(

One on one with a kid is nice, too.


This summer has been absolutely crazy.  I haven't had a moment to myself for three months because all of my kids were home traipsing their friends through the house and yard.  My husband switched his work schedule, too, so he's around more than usual.  However, I like not having to do two loads of dishes and four loads of laundry a day.  There are no toys or clutter dragged out everywhere.  I can clean the house first thing in the morning, and it stays clean until everyone gets home at night.


I even got to relax with a cup of coffee and watch TV for half an hour this morning, something I liked for a change instead of cartoons or kids' movies.  I signed up for an online class that I've been wanting to take.  I can exercise without being interrupted.  Yesterday, I went to the mall and spent all my saved up gift cards.  I got some clothes, books, bath stuff, and a new coffee mug.  My work gets done a lot faster, too.  Call me nuts, but I've never had the luxury of being alone in the house for 14 years.  It's kinda nice.  I love my family with all my heart, but I love having a few hours to myself each week, too.


Except now the cat and dogs have been acting weird since the kids went back to school.  They must think that I need someone or something to clean up after and correct behavior on.  They're getting into everything and racing around the house behind me.




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POLL: Home School vs. Charter School vs. Public School vs. Priv ate School...
Pros and cons of each too. I have two little ones that will be starting school soon and I would like opinions on all. Thanks in advance! :)
Not me - love my 2 teens at home! Enjoy it while you can.
I realize my house doesn't have to be perfect all of the time, their rooms do not need to be clean all of the time, and I enjoy them so much. Soon, my son will go to college and I will be left with my one daughter, and then she will go to college and I will have an empty house with just me, hubby, and our golden. Boy, I dread those days. I am enjoying all the noise, fighting, messiness and laughter as much as possible. I love when they have friends over. They are so funny and a delight!

Really, don't wish it away too quickly.
If he were my child I'd home school in a nannosecond and here's why...sm

I don't believe in putting kids on antidepressants if there's a problem that can be addressed without medication.   With his medical problems that you mentioned he's probably having some kids at school harrass him.... and when he gets older he'll be able to select situations to get into that will limit this type of social trauma. 


With home schooling growing in popularity you can easily plug him in with others who are around his age and home schooling. Here in Georgia they've even gotten some home schooling football teams and bands up because so many kids are home schooled now to help them feel more like the "regular" kids.  


I have a child now that unless the public middle school is significantly cleaned up by the time she gets that age that I'll be home schooling her as there's no way in heck I'm sending her to that pit.   A lot of parents in my area home school their middle school kids because the middle school here is horrendous between the crappy teachers who don't give a toot, the bullying and overall poor attitude by a lot of people at that school.  Fortunately the demographics in our area are changing so hopefully as more expensive homes are built our county will put more emphasis on cleaning up this particularly bad school.  We'll see. 


The real world is not like a home school.

and regulations when they go into the work force?  Or will you always be there to keep them away from the "bad guys".  I'm not so sure it is fair to your children to not send them to school so that they can learn "from their mistakes" and bad choices.  This is how we learn to adapt in our adult life.  We learn the hard way and unfortunately not everything is positive. 


My children attend public schools.  We are all human.  We cannot protect our children forever from the "negative influences" in life, so why not subject it to them while they are young so we can prepare them to make better choices when they are older. 


My daughter has already stated she does not want to work at home.  Good for her.  I am applauding her decision to be social and make a difference, which I'm sure she will because of course she wants to be a teacher, and I'm an MT!!!!   


Do you work full time and home school? (nm)
x
No, usually it's just winding up as all the kids bring home crud from school.
The 4th of July is slow.  Christmas is never slow for me.
Office politics. That is why I enjoy working at home. In the office,
people are in other people business. Just mind your own business.
My sons are born again too and their wives can't leave the house, home school the kids, no tv,
and if my DIL wanted to work, it is out of the question. One of my sons just believes in having babies and having babies. They now have 5. I divorced his dad and apparently his dad taught them this is the American way. I just feel so bad for both my sons' wives. They both are born again and both live their life that way.
When the kids started school I wanted a job in my home town. A hospital clerk position (sm)
came open. You started compiling charts, making copies, etc. Then I was promoted after a few months and began learning transcription and did that part of the day. Then a few months later they taught me coding and abstracting and I did that part of the day. It was a great learning experience to learn things from the bottom up. Needless to say, I am an old dog here who has been doing this more than 25 years now.
When the kids started school I wanted a job in my home town. A hospital clerk position (sm)
came open. You started compiling charts, making copies, etc. Then I was promoted after a few months and began learning transcription and did that part of the day. Then a few months later they taught me coding and abstracting and I did that part of the day. It was a great learning experience to learn things from the bottom up. Needless to say, I am an old dog here who has been doing this more than 25 years now.
I've been at home for the last 16 years...
and feel very fortunate to have had this opportunity.
My kids have suffered greatly from me working at home with them home. SM
I have been working at home as an MT since my two kids were born. They are now 4 and 5. In the first few years, I had no help whatsoever. Their father was a bum who didnt work or take care of them while I worked. Your children get neglected while you work basically. And babies and young children desperately need your attention while they are home with you.

My kids have so many behavioral problems right now because of their neglect. I would try to set them up with things to occupy themselves, like coloring or a movie, etc.

I finally put them in day care and things have improved, but there are still a lot of issues because of the damage that was done. They still try to seek attention by doing bad things and they dont listen to me because they are so used to me letting them get away with a lot of stuff because I was too busy typing to discipline them in their early years.

If I could do it all over again, I would definitely have put them into day care from the very beginning.

My advice would be to seek PT care for your baby. Maybe you can do some work around her schedule a little when she is home, like when she takes a nap, and then bang out a bunch of work while she is in day care.


my take is that she worked inhouse, not at home, and now wants to find out how to work at home. nm
x
Forget "per line." Your take-home pay should be taking home SM
roughly what it was before. If it is not, is it because your current pay rate for editing (which in many companies keeps changing as the VR system is developed) is too low or is it because your talents and skills are more for speed typing than speed editing?

If the first, discuss it with higherups, and go get a new job if you don't get the response you need. My last MTSO was secretly refiguring how production was counted to pay us less. I can accept hard reality, it was the secrecy that burned. Sometimes, though, it's just that the learning curves of individual editors and that of the system aren't in sync, and you end up temporarily making less.

If the second, though, recognize it as soon as possible and change to straight transcription work, in your company or a new one, for as long as you can find it.

As for why we aren't paid more for a higher skill, that's just the way the labor supply ball bounces. Best wishes.
I've worked in-house and at home ....
I find that even when you're in-house, with the nature of the job, there's no time for chit-chat.  When I worked in-house we had production minimums and there was incentive to earn if you produced, so who has time to talk?  I'm with you.  I'm happy being here in my comfy clothing without all that aggravation.  Let is snow, I don't have to drive in it!
Honestly, no I would not do it. I've been home with my kids
for 17 years and would not change a thing. Check local hospitals in your area, maybe they have at-home MTs. I do whatever it took to be able to stay home. This is just me though, others may feel differently.
I've worked at home for years and mothered sm
4 babies during that time. Buy a battery-operated swing and put it right beside your desk. I breastfed all of mine, too. They would swing and sleep, then when they woke up I'd take a break and nurse and then put the baby back in the swing. Get one that reclines and the baby will be very comfortable. That battery-operated swing allowed me to continue working. It was worth every penny I paid for it, and then some! Good luck and enjoy your little sweetie. She will grow up much too fast.
I've used it before, but when trying to access home page recently,
s
And I disagree with that. I've worked home and in-house,
Everyone is different and some people don't rely on jobs to provide social interaction. When it comes to my job, I prefer being at home working independently without a lot of interruptions and enjoy the freedom of working from home. If I were stuck in an office with rigid hours, then I'd be resentful. Personally, I loathe being stuck in an office full of catty backstabbers and love the solitude of home. When I want to socialize, I call one of my friends.

You also have to be able to let QA remarks roll off your back a little, but that only works if you don't have the threat of being docked or terminated as a result of those QA remarks. Find an MTSO that doesn't hold those things over your head (yes, they do exist).

I do think the key IS where you work, but not home versus office - it's finding a company that values MTs, not sees them as mere production machines. They are few and far between, but they're out there. I lived through my share of bad apples in this biz before finding the good ones, so I speak from experience.
I've been home working with my kids for 10 years now sm

I worked outside of the house for one year after my first boy was born.  I hated leaving him.  So I was home working by the time he was a year old.  I really enjoyed it.  10 years later, I'm still working at home, and have a 6 y/o boy too.  Both my kids are in school.  I'm so thankful to be home so that I can get them off the bus, attend parties at school, go on field trips with them.  I can take care of house chores and keep and eye on my three dogs.  The only thing is sometimes I miss being around people, being able to leave my work at my job (at home it's here all the time).  My hubby works midnights, so he's home during the day too, but sleeps.  Sometimes I feel like I have no "me time".  After my boys get a little older, I may get out of the house to work.  Sometimes I would like to actually change my career to sometime more hands on with patients.  I love the medical field, I've been doing transcription for about 14 years.  Another plus for working at home with kids is if they are sick, you don't have to call out of work.  You can do your job and take care of your kids.  You don't have to look your best either, on those days or any days.  I'm guilty for sitting here in my PJs a lot, not having any makeup on or hair fixed. 


Good luck in the future. 


I've been doing it at home strictly full time for a couple of monts, but
I have 6 years of inhouse exp where my duties was divied up with other admin work and 1 1/2 years on and off exp doing it as an IC at home....so again, I'm no rookie....which is what is frustrating. My oldest is on sprnig  break, so if I haven't been fired by next week, hopefully I will get better by then.
I think she means she has wireless TO her home, not IN her home..nm
x
hospital at-home -vs- national at home

I have an interview today with a hospital...work in-house for 3 months, then go home, paid on production. I don't know as of yet what they pay production, so my question is to anyone who works for a hospital at home AND has also worked for a national at home...


Which would be the best to choose? The hospital offers great benefits, but the national I work for now also has benefits, not as good as the hospital, though.  Any input would be most appreciated!



Ditto for me. Have done both outside the home and in the home. We all have
bad days, but I sure would not want to trade working at home for anything. Just being here for my kids is worth every bad day!
I have to say I am just sick over the recent round of school violence

My daughter's Middle School implemented some new safety measures this year. Visitors have to be "buzzed in" and when the kids go from building to building they must use their ID cards to enter the doors.


But one day my daughter forgot her clarinet and my husband took it to her. We are talking about a "country-boy" looking man carrying a small black case. A teacher and her class was exiting the main building and the teacher actually held the door for my husband to enter as they were exiting. She had no idea who he was. Scary.


Anyway, it seems the Amish shooter targeted that school so he could avoid the security measures that have been established in most schools in recent years.


My heart goes out to the families who lost and for those sitting at the bedside of the remaining girls. I hope and pray they will recover.


Thanks for letting me ramble. This has really been on my mind a lot lately


 


 


 


I've done it basically all and ops most of the time now and I really enjoy doing ops.
DS and H&Ps can be very sedative LOL  You do need to have a wider grasp of medical terminology and like Hayseed said, at least know your anatomy basics, and have your own resources and know how to use that provided on the internet, and not referring to Google (but that comes in handy once in a while when all else fails).  You have to be able to visualize as the doc is cutting away.  For example, cardiac anastomoses are like little tubes that have to be hooked up some way, side-to-side, end-to-side and so on.  When they cut out a specimen, you have to think of it as a nugget or chunk of meat that someone else is going to be looking at, so they have to orient this with a clip or a stitch here and there to let the pathologist know which side is what, which one has cancer the top, the side or the botton and so on.  Everything in the body is a bag, hose, tube and so on, so using common sense in typing this also helps a lot.
I've always loved to type, enjoy words, & the act of

It's healthy to enjoy some alone time. You'll adjust and enjoy it soon.
x
I've never been to an MT school.
I've done this over 20 years and make around $1500 a week. I have never had a QA score less than 98%. I am very successful in this field, more than many, less than others.

It is fantastic that we have MT schools available now but that does not discredit anyone who learned this without those educational programs.

It is a job that has to be learned like any other one. Having the education from an MT school will give you a great start.

WHat will serve you better, though, is your ability to comprehend and actually use the information you are learning - whether in a classroom or on the job. If you cannot do that, you won't be successful in this industry regardless of whether or not you have been to MT school.

Unfortunately, this is not a regulated business. There are no standards. Even the AAMT does not really stand for the MT anymore.

The criteria for working for nationals and MTSOs are set by their owners. While most of those do tend to want to see an education from newer MTs, I don't imagine they would refuse to test someone who had 10+ years experience.

Even if starting out without a day of training, if someone can wrangle an account or 2 on their own and they do well enough on it, and they are paid for their work -- they are an MT, same and you and I.

Sounds like everyone is going to an extreme here...an extreme right or left of a line that does not even exist -- as long as one can find work and be paid to do this work.
Does anyone use VR at home? nm
---
yes, I use VR at home
nm
At home may be possible
My husband has sleep apnea (although, since he lost some weight, he no longer has it). Depending on where you live, you may be able to be tested at home. We live in a populated area, and my husband was tested at home. A technician came to our home, showed him how to hook up the wires, and then picked up the machine the next day. He did, indeed, show sleep apnea (interrupted breathing spells many times a night), and was prescribed a sleep apnea machine. The machine is not a big deal, except maybe getting tangled up in the cords. Good luck!!
I have XP Home.
It is Works 2005 that came with my new Dell computer.  I had Word that came with another version of Works that I had on older computer with XP.  I don't think Word came with the first version of Works that I bought for an even older computer.  I bought it separate for a Windows 98 OS, so maybe Works programs are different. 
Help! I'm new with the home job!

I quit my job at a local hospital approximately 2 months ago to help care for some ill family members.  I took a job with a home company and started out by having nothing but technical problems for the first few weeks, so I was unable to make any money.  Once the technical difficulties were fixed, then there wasn't enough work!  I finally gave up and quit the company after two full months and am getting ready to start another company in a few weeks.  At my hospital job, I was making close to $15 an hour and unfortunately it doesn't seem like I can make even close to that with any home company unless I have been doing for 30 years!  Any suggestions from anyone out there on what to do?  I am still working "oncall" at my hospital position and can work as much as I want out of my home and be paid HOURLY rather than by the line, but this won't last long.  How can I be compensated well and still have the flexibility of working out of my home? 


MT from home
I understand how you feel, however if you were in my shoes and wanted to get back in the business, but this time from home, some info would help. I'm still keeping my other job, however I really enjoyed transcribing when I did it long ago and would like to be home a little more. Please, if you can refer me to anyone that can guide me to begin this venture, I'd appreciate it.
mt at home
46-year-old female
to my WFC/PS's home.....nm
x
yes, you can get a job after doing a home course - sm
I did just that with no hospital experience, however depending on who you go to work for it is like being thrown to the wolves and it is either sink or swim. But home study is probably how most people do it as it is. As Lil states though if you did not do any practice dictation (lots of it) then the odds are you wouldn't pass the tests anyway. Things also depend on the school you "attend", some have great reps, others poor. Choose wisely.
At home
Working at home is much much much better - definitely - choose your own hours - go for a walk and get some fresh air whenever you please - spend more time with the kids.
Who Goes Home
Supposedly Nigel from AI (one of the producers, I believe) was on Ryan's show this morning and he said basically we're in for a shock tonight. A lot of people I've talked on my AI list think Taylor is the one going home tonight.
wonder why it was in someone's HOME??
x
your home

Maybe this will make us all think more directly about what we do for a living.  Remote employment is wonderful until it isn't any more!


QA at home
I am curious about doing QA at home.  I am an RN and have been a medical transcriptionist, in the past, for 30 years.  Any info for me please?
ER MT: Did you cat come home yet? Let us know. nm

It was my very first day home as an MT SM

I started in-house at Medquist in June 2001, and Sept. 11, 2001, was my first day working from home for them.  Needless to say, I got very little work done that day.  We were getting the kids ready for school and my husband was in the bathroom.  I yelled, "Oh my gosh!  Someone bombed the World Trade Center!"  I didn't know it was a plane.  I was watching the news when the second plane hit the south tower.  I was in shock...I felt like the world turned upside down...totally lost all sense of security.  It was very surreal.


Chickadee


Going home

I used to work for a local hospital as an employee and worked at home but eventually they outsourced all of work to the good ole MQ and we all lost our jobs.


The situation is very similar. The home MTs had to type 100 minutes per day and as long as we produced this, we made the top of the pay scale.  Eventually, the in-house MTs went on the same production requirement and pay scale but they never did their amount of production required.  This was the reason the work was outsourced. 


They provided the equipment and we clocked in on the phone.  We had no set schedule.  This was an IDEAL position. 


I loved working at home as an employee for this hospital but I ended up coming out to the National scene. 


I am lucky because I work for a GREAT service, make GREAT money and have GREAT benefits.  I think that I am in the minority of MTs who appreciate their job working for a national. 


So, be careful on what you wish for and think long and hard before giving up your hospital position!!!!  A good company is very hard to find.


Good Luck!!


At home
Your post really resonated with me and I am sure with others. Years ago in the inhouse environment, it was a pleasant place to work and make friends. Then came Y2K, the infamous Y2K and we were all shuffled out to make room for more profit oriented patient care services. They brought in the CEOs and "got rid" of the transcription managers who knew their jobs well and the industry as a whole. We then were  given the "privilege" of working at home. Most of us knew our jobs well and could probably write books on the subject but were nonethless shipped out to home with cpl and we knew then we would be like hamsters on a wheel, going nowhere fast. We are better off at home. The inhouse atmosphere with the competition it created by being paid by the line was an umentionable horror scene. People you knew for years as your friends quickly became your arch rivals, trying to cut you off at the ankles at any chance they could in order to present themselves as superior in every way. It didn't matter if you were the best MT on the planet, this was WAR baby.    Being in the shelter of our homes and out of the hospital trenches has brought us some peace and solace but it divide an industry that used to be friendly, amicable and very fertile ground for learning the ropes  of MT.   Suffice it to say "divide and conquer."
At home........
I am chosen to be on a committee to decide on guidelines for us to type at home at the local hospital where I work. We have been waiting for this for a long time. I hope everything works out well for us as it has for you. I would love to be at home. Department politics - you can only take so much.
at home
I have been home for about 3 years now -went back to school to be an MT when my youngest was7 months old.. I was lucky to work for a small service right away and now I still work for a service and have my own account. I tried working nights in a hospital for more experience, but it was just too hard with 2 small children. This is much better and so flexible..I love being home
Will you be doing it from home then?
I once interviewed for a position, but they had an odd system. I'd be working in-house, and in addition to doing pathology dictation, they expected the MT to type in the lab techs' notes. The techs had access to the computer, were IN the computer doing their work, but it was too much work for them to type in 2-digit results for their lab findings. They wanted to write them and have the MT put them in the system as a separate step. To me this was babying the techs and was a way for the techs to be off the hook if they recorded a result wrong. It was very inefficient since I would have to find the pathology report after the fact and add these other findings.

I don't think they could do that to you if you're working from home.

You'll need a lab book, that's for sure.
I don't know how any of the MTs at home with - s/msg
small children manage to stay focused enough to do a full day's work! My cat is constantly wanting this or that, or purposely sitting in front of my monitor so as to obstruct my view and force my attention. If it's so hard to keep a cat out of my hair, I can only imagine (and shudder) at what it must take to keep a toddler occupied while trying to work. And I've been doing MT for a long, long time. Trying to learn new software, deal with the inevitable glitches that go with getting dialed-in to a new job, and trying to look up words, addresses, listen, decipher what an ESL neurosurgeon is mispronouncing, build a word-expander and macro base, etc. etc., all while having to keep tabs on a small, active child, would be very demanding. If I wanted a "fun" sideline, I myself would probably consider art, jewelry-making, or maybe writing poetry or children's books. Or else possibly starting a blog site. But medical transcription? Nuh-uh.