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Lunch- -most important meal of the day!

Posted By: Joy on 2007-06-27
In Reply to: Working 40 hrs. with lunches/breaks..how do you sm - as

I work 35 hours a week. I have a scheduled 8-hour shift and take a 1-hour lunch break, leaving me with 7 hours of production a day. My advice is to do the 35-hour schedule. You'll probably be more productive (lph) at 35 hours than 40, and you'll always be able to add extra hours later if you want to. Don't skip lunch or eat at your desk. You'll feel so much better if you take a real lunch break everyday.


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Most in-house hospital jobs allow only 30 minutes for lunch! So I wouldn't call an hour lunch
"rigid."  If you are an employee, there are rules, set schedules, etc. that you have to expect. 
our meal is a 30-minute meal....*L*....nm
x
some use it as--before every meal
/
Ever try cooking a meal in someone else's kitchen? sm
You know how to cook, but have a tough time finding where everything is kept in that kitchen so it takes a while longer.  You could cook the same thing in your own familiar kitchen in half the time.  This goes for MT, too.  It takes a long time, even for those of us who have been transcribing half our lives, to get used to new formats, new work type codes, new voices, and learning idiosyncrasies for each and every dictator.  It takes time--a few months or more.  Be patient, and the line counts will surely add up as you become more familiar with the account. 
He is one fry short of a Happy Meal.

Whatever, but it would be a huge meal and take me months to eat it. nm
:+
I agree, if I knew it was my last meal I would
Now if I were stranded on a desert island for days without food and a waiter dropped in and asked what I would want, probably the first thing would come to my mind is hamburger well done, restaurant not Micky D's, and fries, and dreyer's chocolate chip ice cream for dessert. 
name your favorite meal, down to the dessert

I think my favorite may be the Thanksgiving meal with all the trimmings....turkey, gravy, honey spiral ham, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, garden peas.....I could go on and on.....


What's yours?????


I'm weird, but if I KNEW it was my last meal, I wouldn't
z
A hot meal, ready to eat is perfect and it doesn't

have to be fabulous.  A meatloaf with some veggies made all together in a throwaway pan is easy to make.


Not a sightseeing place but for a good lobster meal, sm
Chauncey Creek Lobster Pier, Kittery Point, ME.

You bring your own cocktails, appetizers, tablecloth. It is creekside, very casual, parts are open air and parts under a tent. You pick your lobster, they cook and bring to your table. Just fabulous, just get there early because parking is limited.

New Hampshire, there is no sales tax on liquor.

Just driving up the coast of Maine is fabulous.

Have fun!
MTs out to lunch
Congratulations! I am sure you worked very hard and deserved it.
No--she is lunch!!!!

lunch
FOr me i just took a lunch without never punching in or out.
breaks and lunch

I think the way it goes is that you must be allowed to take breaks and lunch.  I was an employee for a company that did not care when you worked, as long as you met turnaround time. 


Could you have lunch delivered for
the staff one day? I'm not suggesting anything too pricey, but something they all enjoy. A donation in their name to an animal rescue in your area might be appreciated as well. Congratulations on your puppies!
So, instead of dinner, whats for LUNCH?
YUM  
I don't know, but my appetite for lunch just left me.
x
You 2 should find each other and do lunch sometime! I'm too far away to join ya...nm
s
If you are FT employee, must take two 15 min breaks and 30 min lunch
But, I am sure, many MTs do not do this and say they do.
Whats for lunch/dinner??

I am just curious what everyone is having for lunch or dinner.  Need some ideas on what to cook.


Have a good Sunday afternoon.


take my lunch break and take a dip in the pool

I had one who decided lunch time ....sm
would be a good time to dictate.  Opening wrappers, eating, drinking, etc.  I was so repulsed by the eating sounds, I was ready to give them up.  I called my contact person about 3 x and asked her  to ask him to stop.  Finally, I called the manager.  When she approached him about it, HE DENIED IT!!!  Said he didn't eat while dictating.  Of course, she believed him and was dumbfounded at what I could be hearing!  I told her I knew what I was hearing and  it had to stop.  Anyone who has ever heard that sound while transcribing KNOWS they are eating.  What a jerk.  Interestingly, the eating stopped, and I still have the account.
I make lunch ahead of time and

my child has never complained about the bread being hard.  Maybe because we use 100% whole wheat and it is already kind of dry?  I have just never heard that complaint from anyone


I make lunch right after clearing up dinner and that way if we all oversleep by accident, at least its one less thing to have to worry about.  We have enough stress in the morning.


 


Rule of thumb - THERE'S NO FREE LUNCH
If you don't want to do much, don't expect to make much. That's just the way it is.
Eating their lunch/dinner while dictating
I have a doctor from Croatia who is hard enough to understand with his "ah" and 'um" but when he's crunching carrots in the middle of it?  Forget it. 
Someone paddles my kids, they will find my fist for lunch!!!
c
I'm having a homemade roast beef sub and chips for lunch.

DH can probably BBQ hot dogs and burgers for dinner because I don't feel like cooking.


My employer took all MTs out to lunch today in recognition of National MT Week and we got a new
Drake & Drake Pharmaceutical Word Book!  First time I have worked anywhere that actually recognized MTs for this week.
I worked in a hospital and I could make differrent arrgmts for lunch if I needed to.
Don't let the OP scare you off from investigating.

Do what is right for you.

moms? lunch cunundrum - am I a less-loving mother if I make his PB&J tonight and refrigerator it?
x
Forget dinner! Just prepared a huge lunch. Skillet chicken: Skinless boneness breasts cooked in skil
golden brown, add can of cream of mushroom soup, 1 cup of frozen mixed veggies, 1/2 c water - cover and cook about 15 minutes.
Then I made homemade mashed potatoes - extra thick - with plenty of pepper :0

Then, boiled my water for my sweet tea....with lemon.

After the chicken is done, pour a cup and a half or so of mozerella cheese on top and let it sit for about a minute or so.

The mixture from the potatoes is a creamy blend with mixed veggies poured over either rice or potatoes. I just make stuff up all the time like this. You could even add crackers to the mixture to give it a crunchy feel. My 2 boys were in heaven today. Of course, I may have to work the night shift when my lunch is finished - when I eat like this during the afternoon I usually skip dinner altogether because of the carb content.

Remember with this dish: You can do it low fat by substituting above ingredients. Also remember to have plenty of color to your diet! Voila!
What's your favorite food. Favorite in that you could only have one last meal what would it be?

Indulge me while I stare at computer screen waiting for Q work that isn't there.


I love spaghetti but only served with a great salad with olive oil and some garlic bread. Can't have pasta alone.  And needless to say a glass of red wine.  No dessert, just extra spaghetti.


 


oh, sorry, yes that is important sm
the pay is average for a national.  I make $900/week. I think that's pretty darn good!
How important is it to you ...

How important is it to you that your US medical records are KEPT in the USA?


Does it matter to you?  Why or why not?


It's VERY important to me. I don't want anyone in the US much less
outside of the US knowing my business, financial, medical, or otherwise.  If I can't sue someone who has used my information for their personal gain then that is a problem for me.  It would cost me a fortune to sue someone overseas who say sold my information or threatened to put it on the Internet. 
How important is it
Very important. I am HIV and do not want that information going anywhere.
but TAT is what is important and OP...sm

stated that they were having a TAT problem prior - so?  TAT is promised, not met, and so the OP didn't meet her/his end of the bargain.  I promise 24-48 hour TAT and that's what they have been getting from me for nearly 10 years. 


A deal is a deal is a deal - whether on paper or not on paper - verbal contracts are also recognized - just ask Judge Judy *lol*


To the OP - I hope things go better for you truly - but remember this:  A promise made is a debt unpaid....that also is in regards to TAT.  Best of luck - things will turn around for you, I am hopeful. 


And this is important. sm

It varies state to state, I am sure.  You need to get the house out of your mother's name.  Where I live, the house has to come out of their name 2 YEARS before they can get in a decent nursing home.  There are a not of variables and when you are running to doctors, doing shopping for 2 people, cleaning, plus working full-time which no one realizes if you are an MT because you are "at home";  you really don't have time to keep all the plates spinning by yourself, with no help, and this issue about my mother's home should have been addressed a long, long time ago.


It's important to ask
questions of a potential employer but sounds like she overdid it.

Have to admit though she certainly doesn't lack confidence!
It is amazing to me how self-important US MTs are ...
You want to point your finger toward offshoring companies using HIPAA as your miserable crutch; however, when it comes to ensuring the legitimacy of who YOU are to handle this sensitive, private, protected information -- well just forget it.

After all, I mean, YOU work at home. And you are a citizen of the US. And no US citizen EVER scammed the public, EVER stole identities, EVER did anything wrong. Talk about self-righteous and self-important. Hahaha

What's wrong? What are you afraid of? Someone might really find out about your lack of control over your own life?

No one has ANY idea what YOU are doing with this information either and if your attitudes and behavior on here were shown to physicians and your own employers (and probably your family and friends), many of you would be out - out of a job, out of respect, out of friends and maybe family, out of most of everything and everyone who has no idea what you are like when you feel your anonymous status is hidden.

I'm entitled to how I feel the same as you are. You might want to get prepared though -- time and the conditions in this world are rooting for my opinion.

With the increasing security risks, insurance costs, etc., in this world -- you might want to get busy cleaning up whatever it is you're hiding because the likelihood of you submitting yourselves to any/all of these things for a job is going up and fast.

Hahaha
If bathing is so important to him
then he could wear some swim trunks in the tub with her. I stated that in my last post also. He would still have the bonding time with her but would be covered so she wouldn't be exposed to that. That was also an idea that was posted by another poster that her brother does I think.
One important point: SM
Spheris insurance is PPO, meaning the insurance is not expensive, however, it does not cover the cost of everything or most things, as does HMO insurance. This is a very important fact. Otherwise, agree with above.
I believe it is important for children too..
That does still does not mean that since you made a mistake in your life that you are not entitled to the same rights as everyone else. Could've, should've, would've. We can point fingers and tell people what they should have done, but the fact is, they have rights like everyone else. Of course you tend to do better financially when you do things in the right order. Life does not always work like you want it to though. I myself got pregnant while on BC with a man I had been with for 4 years. I had my son before I got married. We got married when he was less than a month old. He was our only witness. We have since had another child. I have never been on assistance, but I am lucky enough that we have been able to work out our problems and keep our marriage intact. If I could do it all over again, I would have waited, of course. We have struggled quite a bit by having kids so young. Life just doesn't always work out how you want it to though. I want my daughter to get married first and then have children, as do all mothers. Those are things I will teach her too.
Actually, what the account wants is more important than the BOS.
They sign my paycheck and I will do what they request. Don't care much for the BOS and you need to come off your high horse tell everyone they must be consistent with everything.

Yes, consistency is nice, but if the account wants the numbers spelled out from 1-10 that is what the account is going to get - one, two, three, four, etc. They are the ones putting food on my table.


Thanks for that important bit of advice!
I have been going to try them but I will now wait until my next teeth cleaning next month. I NEVER would have given that a thought before. That would be awful to end up with yellow outlines!

Do you know how it might affect crowns??? I assume it will leave them the same color they are. Mine are a little lighter than my natural teeth.
Although MT accuracy is very important,
I think the source of dosing medication comes mostly from the physician's order sheet.  I agree with the other poster that a cascading effect is very possible when later dictation and charting is based on the previous records.  Also, there are other safeguards and checks made in terms of operations, and they would not be based simply on the H&P.  If a doctor bases any operation on just an H&P I would consider him incompetent.  This does not excuse the MT who is not careful in documentation. 
Get yourself a system...most important..
With Autocorrect, you have to remember everything!  So I had to come up with a system that I would remember them.  I use the letter *J* for anything that ends in *tion* or *sion,* the letter *Z* for endings with *ize* or *ization*, *x* for words that start with prefix of *ex*, for capitalizing abbreviations, such as HPI that you want to capitalize in a sentence, would be *xhpi.*  I use *U* as in uhpi to bring up History of Physical Illness when needed in a sentence, as *HPI* will come up all caps for headings.  I also have a system that I will use the first two letters of two words if I have already used the first letters of two words, such as *cp* for chest pain, *chpr* for chemistry profile.  If those first two letters are used for something, I go to the first three letters of the first word and the first two letters of the second word.  Also will use maybe the first four or five letters of a word.  Also, have phrases, such as *sdnh* for she does not have, *shnos* for she has not seen, and just a lot of those types of things. Saves a lot of time.  Also have, of course, what the docs constantly say, their little phrases they use all of the time.  However, I do forget I have some of these things in there, and have to keep refreshing myself as with about 5000 abbreviations, it gets wicked!!  But it really helps to have a system that helps you to remember what you have in there. 
Important - see message

I too use Smartype with 2003 and have the same problem, but I wouldn't give up and found out why.  What it is when you have a text box (when you jump around using the F11 key to fill in the box) you have to hit the delete key first before you type.  If you type without deleting the box first, it will freeze or lock up.


The same thing happens if you hightlight text and want to type over the text.  You have to hit delete first and then type.  If you highlight and then type without deleting the text, it will lock up.  I have trained myself to use the delete key at these times and rarely does it freeze up now.  Every now and then I'll forget or accidently do something that will trigger it to lock, but it is not very often.


You can use it, but you have to train yourself.  It is a Word problem I was told.  If you have any questions, e-mail me and I will try to help


Important ? re. digital(sm)
I get the heebie jeebies worrying that dictation will be erased/lost in the transfer. Is there any backup which will prevent this happening? Where I live if anything is lost, things fly and tempers flare. Scared to death of this happening. How wonderful that you are sharing, kudos to all of you. We need more of this helping attitude.
The MOST important question is.....