preciousbaby621

I'm currently a pre-nursing student and I started my new job at a medical office (OB/GYN) as a receptionist. I've been working in health care for over 5 yrs and I noticed that this office have patients fill out a patient intake form and thats it! I asked the office manager about the HIPAA forms and she said it's not needed because this office "doesn't give out any patient info to anyone, anyway" The office manager has been working here for almost 2 yrs, and her previous job was not medical-related so she has no prior healthcare experience and this has me really concerned. How else can I make her understand that we need to save our butts incase something happens? Also, when we send specimen to the lab, there's a requisition form we fill out. We add patient's insurance info and patient's home address and the office manager told me to " NEVER release patient's address to the laboratory billing dept" she says i'm violating patient's privacy rights by giving out their home address. I know for a fact that in our area MD/DC/ VA it's not required to have patient authorization in order to release information for billing purpose. I told her if the insurance does not pay, who will they send the bill to??? ugh! what do i do? what do i say without being rude? I tried explaining but everytime I do she starts to raise her voice and gets really loud and it's annoying! This woman has never been an office manager, she has no idea of what she's doing, she's a friend of the doctor (hence why she's the office manager) she can't be unprofessional at times, and I think she's mad that I'm far more knowledgeable than her and I'm always bringing up what she does wrong. I correct her to help out, not be bossy. What should i do?

I'm a pre-nursing student currently working at a doctor's office as a receptionist. I enjoy my job, LOVE the load of work (makes the day go by faster), but I can't stand this one co-worker, who wont do her job and she's VERY negligent! She's a close friend of the doctor, and was hired to work at the front office and eventually became a medical assistant who calls herself a "Nurse". My problem with her is that she doesn't do her job right. She'll never take calls from patients who say they "want to speak to a nurse", she doesn't care about calling in prescriptions or if they get them, and she'll usually try to boss me around and tells me not to do certain things like helping patients and often tells me "it's a waste of time, leave that alone", or "tell them to call later", "or so-and so will figure it out" A patient who wanted some lab orders to be faxed -with cover sheet, had requested that we call her before faxing them to her work. And thats what I did, and my co-worker started yelling at me like I was some retard. She's telling me to "just fax it! who cares...don't call the patient!" Wouldn't that be a HIPAA violation? So, I left work pretty upset today due to the fact that there were about 15 prescriptions that had to be called in no later than today, requests that have been sitting there since 8:40am! And they were all piled up on her desk because she decided to leave early. I asked her, "what about the patient's medication? " and she said it can wait til the next day, and that it wasn't important. So the problem is that the doctor I work for wont doing anything about it. Of course, that's her friend - Stupid one, too! I just hope that my co-worker's negligence doesn't cause that office a lawsuit! If it were up to me, I would of fired long time ago!

Well good for you that you did it all on your own. But at our school it's required to take an assesment test, talk with an advisor, then register for classes. And they encourage students to see an advisor if they're considering the Nursing program as part-time. That's the process.

Because he's an idiot! Last year, I tried to sign up for a class and he told me I had to go to another campus because that particular course wasn't offered at "our campus." (my campus is 2 min. from my house) So I would travel to another campus in another city; I was always late due to traffic jam in DC and because of all the tardies I was dropped from the class. Financial aid wouldn't pay for that and I had to pay $330 out of pocket, THEN, I found out later that the course I was dropped from was offered at MY campus but in the fall. :angryfire:angryfire:angryfire So I was traveling 40min to get to a class, when I could of waited til Fall 06 to take it, but nooooo! This so-called advisor told me something totally different.

I went to go see my advisor and he told me I have to take either Elements of Statistics or Survey of College Math, for the Nursing program. I told him I was really, really horrible at math and he suggested I take statistics. Honestly, I really don't trust this advisor because of the wrong info he's given me in the past. So for a person like me, who is really terrible at math, would you suggest I take Statistics or College math? I always read about other people not doing so well in statistics and I want to avoid all that and pass my course with a good grade. GPA is very important. Thanks in advance!

Good point!

I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. My condolences go out to you and your family. You have to be stong for your children.

Hi everyone, thank you for your posts! I'm glad I was able to read your comments, and I really appreciate those who weren't sarcastic or condescending.

I'm currently a Pre-Nursing student, and I'm really excited about entering the world of Nursing and being able to care for others. Recently, I found out that one of the members at my church, who just graduated from the medical assistant program, is in a coma. I was told that she got Meningitis while working at a hospital. My mother told me to really think about the Nursing program and that there are risks. I hate hearing these things because Nursing is something I've always wanted to do since I was little. I really don't believe them and rather hear it from actual Nurses who know if this stuff really does happen. So, I guess my question is, should I worry? Is Nursing really safe? Should I worry about catching a disease? Are there certain shots to help protect you? Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

I go to Montgomery College in Maryland, and trust me..there's ALOT of illegals in my school. I wonder how they got in. Maybe the school ignores all that just to get money from students?

A classmate of mine told me she's a undocumented immigrant. My concern is this, what will happen after she gets her ADN? Will she be able to sit for the NCLEX ? Or will she even be able to get her degree? I just feel bad because she's gonna go through all that hard work in Nursing School and might not be able to get her license. I'm just wondering what would happen, or is she wasting her time going through Nursing school? Please let me know, I'd like to help her out and give her info that she might not be aware of. Thanks in advance

I'm not in nursing classes yet, but I do know what you mean. Some will even have an offensive, condescending attitude towards the teacher/ instructor (which I think is very disrespectful), and others will even try to outsmart the teachers. Sometimes I feel like saying something to make them shut up so we can all continue learning, but that would only escalate the situation. So, I just sit there...and watch them lack maturity infront of the whole class. It's fun to watch for a while, but then it gets really annoying and will hinder teaching.

I'm currently a Pre-nursing student, and been suffering from migraines for about a year. They wont go away, unfortunately, but I'm not going to let them interfere with my daily life. Being that Nursing is a stressful job, how do you deal with these awful headaches? Does taking medication actually work? Even if you're working in a stressful environment? How did you deal with this during nursing school? I can't even study without taking my pill. It's awful! Note: I'm not asking for medical advice, but would like to read your comments on how you got through this with school or work. Thanks!

Sorry, but I couldn't even laugh after reading Molyy's post. The lack of proper grammar was disctracting.

You have to understand that alot immigrants who come to the U.S., mostly who are Spanish-speaking, will usually end up in a predominately hispanic area where everyone speaks Spanish. Therefore, they feel it isn't necessary to speak English. I also agree that they should be able know enough English. Also, when referring to Spanish-speakers, you should say Latino/ Hispanic, NOT Mexican, Cuban, etc. Some people will get offended, even over something trivial.