doranosaurus ([info]doranosaurus) wrote,
@ 2005-10-21 20:51:00
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Transcribing Entrails
Well, I’ve been training on my new job for a 4 days now. I have a good conception of what the job entails. (Ever notice that ‘entails’ and ‘entrails’ are only one letter apart? Coincidence? I think not!)

Anyway, it’s a lot of shuffling papers, answering phones and a surprising amount of "transcribing"; literally copying notes word-for-word from one worksheet to another. I spend hours a day copying words verbatim, BY HAND, onto various triplicate forms. There must be a hundred different forms to fill out! It’s straight out of the movie Brazil, I’m telling you. Hell, we even have an elaborate pneumatic tube system come to think of it! Just like in the movie.

But all this transcribing and filling out forms makes me fear for my job. It feels so antiquated that I’m sure any day now the role I’m performing will be replaced by computer. I’m very surprised it has not been already. I guess it’s just a matter of the administrators of the hospital not wanting to make the investment in a computer system to perform the role.

I suppose a Unit Clerk will still have a role to play even when all the forms are computerized because anything that the hospital can get a Unit Clerk to do for half the pay of a nurse, they will eagerly oblige.

Nurses make so much money. Damn I wish so badly that I wanted to be a nurse. Fresh out of school, they start at $25/hr base pay. Plus they get $3-5/hr for evening or night shift, plus another dollar or so an hour for various specialty certifications that only take a few hundred hours of school to get. Plus they have ample opportunity to work overtime. Plus you could be a travelling nurse and make half again as much plus free room and board if you were willing to work temorarily in another city. Plus they have a wide variety of shifts and jobs to choose from and ample opportunities for advancement. Plus my hospital will pay you $5000/year towards your nursing-related academic expenses if you choose to persue a nursing degree. So basically, with less than a Bachelor's degree, you could have employers begging you to work for them for $25 - $50/hr right out of school. Arg.

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[info]janezanaddict
2005-10-22 05:31 am UTC (link)
Nursing is definetly where the money is at. My Mom is a nurse. She didn't go to school until she was about 33...she is 47 now and makes MEGA bucks as an RN supervisor for the agency on aging. My friend Erin is fresh out of school and works at a nursing home. She only works 2 16 hour days a week (in a row) and she gets paid for 40 hours. She makes like $17.50 an hour but technically it is more because she only works 32 hours. Lucky bitch. I ave almost made up my mind that I am going to start getting my basics out of the way at home on the computer until I put Andon in preschool. Then I am going to nursing school. It isn't my DREAM...my dream is to be an english teacher...but you know how the pay is there! I know I would be a good nurse. I am a compassionate person and I have already worked in one field of medicine with animals for years...surgeries, gore and such. I can hang. Damn, this turned into a little spill all about me didn't it? Haha! Back to you...ever since you said your job was like the dude on ER I have had this pic of you in my head standing at a station, shoveling papers and looking like you are getting something done! ;)

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[info]doranosaurus
2005-10-23 03:23 am UTC (link)
Yeah, that comes out to $21.85/hr if she works 32 hrs. And I imagine she gets a few $ more an hour during evenings, nights and weekends. but anyway, it's all a fantasy for me cuz being around people stresses me out too much. I don't think I could handle the "people skills" part of it. Otherwise I'd jump at the chance. Being single and adept at travelling, I'd love to be a travelling nurse and make a bunch more money.

Going to nursing school is a fine idea but I think you should at least take some classes towards an english degree to see how it goes. Teachers are very much in demand and the money isn't all that bad. You get good benefits and pension. If you consider that you get 2 months vacation every year, plus 2 weeks in winter an a week in spring off, the pay is pretty good. Besides, even if the money weren't good at all, your husband will be making a good living and you don't need to have two high paying incomes. You don't seem like the kind of person who is interested in accumulating needless wealth. I think you should persue being an english teacher.

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[info]kejn
2005-10-22 07:18 am UTC (link)
speaking of paper shuffling and transcribing by hand... you made me think of a thing i saw on the danish news the other week. in denmark all the patients' medical files are going to be digital and placed on the internet from now on. ANY health care professional within the country will be able to access your medical file AND the records of all medication you've ever been prescribed if they have your "personal number" (the scandinavian equivalent of a social security number, but used much more and in all sorts of contexts). that would be 38,000 people (!) around the country able to access some very private information about you, and possibly leaving their computer screens unsupervised so whoever is in their office can take a peek. isn't that scary?

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[info]doranosaurus
2005-10-23 03:01 am UTC (link)
Yes, there's definitely a trade-off when it comes to medical information. Making it more easily accessible increases efficiency, improves outcomes, reduces costs, and reduces medical errors. But you give up privacy and may risk being discriminated against in various ways. For example insurance companies and employers could make decisions about you based on your medical history.

I'm sure it will be only a matter of time before the information seeps into the public domain. Like the way survaillance cameras were once considered a huge invasion of privacy and now we don't think twice about having one on every corner.

Where I work there is much care given to minimizing disemination of private data, but it's still happens.

To get one's own medical record is a rather difficult process. At my hospital you have to call a special department and make an appointment to have an advisor sit with you and review your medical record. They do this so that people can understand what the notations mean and don't jump to conclusions. For example, "SOB" in the medical record means shortness of breath, not son of a bitch!

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[info]iceofpoetry
2005-10-22 03:50 pm UTC (link)
Why am I studying to be an artist, when i could be making the big bucks as a male nurse?

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[info]doranosaurus
2005-10-23 02:52 am UTC (link)
I haven't got a clue! News Flash -- You won't be making big bucks studying art! But I admire and envy people who persue art as a career more than any other profession. I'd like to do it myself but don't have the motivation or courage.

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[info]astralweeks
2005-10-22 07:10 pm UTC (link)
Plus male nurses are HOT. ;)

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[info]doranosaurus
2005-10-23 02:49 am UTC (link)
Yup, another reason do be a nurse. But unfortunately, I think I'd hate it. I get too emotionally drained by being around people for too long. I think I'd be good at the technical part of it but terrible at the "people skills". Otherwise I'd do it in a heartbeat.

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