Monday....again

Ok, It's true, I've had my new keyboard for some time but my muse has not been visiting me lately.

I started my transcription career three years ago and my first docs were a wonderfully clear spoken neurologist from here in the South, a physiatrist from Austria, and an NP from who knows where. Guess who gave me the most trouble?

I don't know why NPs take three pages to say what MDs take a paragraph to say, but it was explained to me by one that their documents are more closely scrutinized, and they leave nothing, and I mean abosulutley nothing, to chance. Every single vital sign. Every single testing sign. It once took her three minutes to dictate vital signs, all which were "within normal limits". I liked her, she was just really long winded. Add to that, she would save up a week of dictation and download it all and expect it back in 24 hours. Nope. Not happening baby.

So the first time I sat down to do her transcription, I didn't know that our company had a "dumping" policy. i.e. if you only "dump" once a week, then we (the transcriptionists) have a week to get it all back to you in one day incriments. You dump 3 hours of dictation a week, we have to get back to you at least 36 minutes a day. This is so that our other doctors are not paying or being pushed back due to a dumpers lack of diligence in dictation. They download daily, they get their transcription back daily. So, I get this three hour dictation from her. I finished my other doctors and got started on her. I was up until 3 a.m. at which point I had just finished an 18-minute note, hit the wrong key, and deleted it all. I literally cried. I was so exhausted, and at that point I still thought that it had to be in by 6 a.m., and this was NOT the last noted she had dictated. I tell you, I was ready to QUIT and go work at Wal-Mart. I finally got her done, called in to the office, and told them I was not working that day, Friday, that I would do all of Fridays transcription(which was due in on Monday) on Saturday. My boss called and let me know that I had just completed a weeks worth of work and to take it easy. I think I cried all morning from exhaustion. Then my mom IMed me and let me know that my dad had just died. I cried all after noon too. Such was my introduction into medical transcrition. It got better.