Medical Transcription RN

MiaKeaRN · Apr 29, 2008

Hi there,

I was an MT for 20+ years and am now pursuing a nursing career. I worked from home for 13 of those 20 years and made a very good income. Honestly, I will probably make about the same as a graduate nurse as I made as an MT/medical editor. I do not plan on giving up my current position, but when I graduate hope to work 2-3 days as an RN and 2-3 days from home as an MT. If you have a little patience when you first get into transcription, you will gradually build up speed and make good money. Most people give up after the first few months because they are not making 15.00 to 20.00/hour....but within a year or so, if you have good accounts & dictators, or at least are working on the same accounts, you can build up shortcuts & use word expansion programs and really kick some butt.

It is honestly a wonderful way to make a living...in fact, many of my coworkers are wondering why in the world I would give up my comfy position to venture out into the "real" world. :chuckle

Good luck!!

Sunflower3 · Apr 29, 2008

Thanks for your response!

I am currently at 71 wpm, with 98% accuracy, so I hope that it won't take a year to get proficient, but I will hang in there, because I really want to do this.

Best of luck to you in your nursing school adventure. I'm also in school-getting my Master's in nursing education, so I can teach online, eventually!!

Thanks,

UnitRN01

Ms.RN · May 1, 2008

can you explain what you do as a medical transcription? does it involve listening to doctor's tape recording and type what he said? is it difficult to understand what doctors are saying?

Sunflower3 · May 1, 2008

Yes, you listen to dictation and type what is said. There are times that it is hard to understand, especially for those MD's with English as a second language, but you get used to it, and one can usually figure out what's being said.

Medical transcriptionists do the word processing for chart-related forms, such as H & P's, consults, radiology or other diagnostic reports.

Hope this helps,

UnitRN01

BrokenRNheart · May 1, 2008

I am thinking of the same thing. I was about to do it but had to use the money to pay bills.

I just want out of nursing - period.

chaneyrae · Feb 12, 2009

Hi,

Wondering if you pursued the medical transciptionist with your RN credentials. If so, what school did you go to?

rednails · Feb 13, 2009

I am an RN who did transcription in the hospital to put myself through nursing school. It paid my entire tuition for a BSN. I then spent a few years nursing before getting pregnant and have my first child. I then realized I could stay at home with my son (which was my only reason for leaving nursing) and do transcription...it was an up and coming new idea at the time. I took the leap and have been doing it for about 12 years caring for my family. I kept my degree/license active and now want to return to nursing and am having one heck of a time. I wish you well...I should have stayed resource or something - but I'm persistent and hopeful that I can regain my career in nursing.

anway - I already knew transcription so I bought a computer and convinced a small local company to hire me (at the time was a nurse in an office). It was a tough start and the money was high and low depending on work flow. The learning curve can be high if you don't know accents. I luckily do and have experience so it wasn't too bad. I am an independent contractor and thus make my own hours, and I take time off when needed. However, there are no benefits...no insurance..no paid time off...nothing. You are at home and on your own and it was fun for a while. I am at the point of boredom, but I type a lot of different things...cardio, urinary, gi, variety. The work can be slow when docs are all on vacation or weather is bad and offices and hospitals do less...You listen to the dictation of various speakers. Some are English speaking and you would think they were from Mars. Some speak Chinese and speak clearer than the English speaking! While they dictate they ..use "the facilities", talk to their wife, watch a movie and converse with others, wait for their flight at the airport, drive in a car with radio full blast and window open, eat crackers or chips, slurp on a drink, chew gum and smack mouth it, snort and birp and gag noises, and so many unmentionable things. It's not pretty but it's a living that is supportive of a family life. If you are blessed as I have been to have a client who is pretty steady, the work is good. After you take out your own taxes which includes social security (all of it- whereas an employer pays half) it's not quite what you think you would make, but it's pretty good. I don't mean to sound depressing, it worked wonderfully for me for a long time. Good luck to you. Hope I gave you info and with you success!

Longie · Feb 13, 2009

I too worked as a MT in an office and then in the hospital that paid to send me to nursing school. I actually took a pay cut initially as an RN due to being paid 'incentive' pay (additonal money per line for typing over a certain amount per shift), but am catching up due to pay raises. Everything the previous posters have mentioned regarding accents, noises, etc. is definitely true and believe it or not being a nurse does not necessarily make you proficient in ALL medical terminology:bugeyes:--there's a lot of it out there. Voice recognition software is big at our hospital, both 'back-end' and 'front-end'. Learning to work with that was a challenge at first but really increased my pay once I got the hang of it. Good luck to you!

SingingFrog · Mar 26, 2009

I just posted on a different thread about changes to the MT world...not sure how to direct you there but it may be worth reading :)