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Does anyone think that coding is possibly as hard as nursing? SM - anon

Posted: Apr 18, 2012

I am 3/4 through the Andrew's coding course and it is HARD!!! Sometimes I think I wish I went into nursing. A 2-year degree and you can start (in my area at least) at 30 an hour.

With coding, at my local hospital, they start at 26 an hour for inpatient coders, BUT you need experience! I feel it may take me a few years to get up to the pay rate of 26/hour, and in between I will have to go back to school to learn ICD-10 and pass even more tests.

AND, by the time I am done it would have taken me two years to finish the coding course (not incl. the ICD-10 that I will have to learn in the near future).

Just curious about other people's thoughts. I am constantly battling this.... did I make the right decision? Should I stop the coding education and pursue nursing before I waste any more time? Will I ever be able to get a job with no experience? etc. etc. etc.

Then I wonder... how much harder would an RN course be? I hear it is very hard and there is soooo much studying and homework, etc. But I do a lot of that with my coding course. I am up all hours of the night studying, coding reports, etc... Sometimes I feel like I have to know as much details about certain things like procedures etc. as nurses do. If I have to get my hands dirty to earn a few extra dollars AND have stability because there are a lot more opportunities in nursing than there are in coding.... then Im willing to do that.

Any thoughts? Anyone else consider this? Any encouragement on the coding career, to keep me positive that I am on the right track and should continue with my coding course at Andrews.

Thanks!!!!

Trust me, the schooling required to become a coder... - sm

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comparison to schooling to become a nurse. When you graduate, nursing is FAR more demanding.

Question - Anon

[ In Reply To ..]
Im sorry, I was just a little bit confused. Are you saying that you feel the amt of time you put into coding, you could be a nurse and you would have greater opportunities.

Just checking, wasn't sure if that is what you meant or not.

I think that if you're questioning your choice already - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
then you don't want to do coding. However, since you're already 3/4 finished, I recommend finishing the course and seeing if you can pass the CCS and perhaps get a job as a coder. I truly believe that when you're questioning your career choice before you've even finished school that you've made the wrong choice. Coding and RN are so completely different. I used to be a nurse, then became an MT and now am a coder. If I had to do it all over again, I would've gone on to become a PA, as I feel more hands on is for me.

Think rationally rather than emotionally - Bird in the hand ...

[ In Reply To ..]
Why would you want to throw the coding away when you are nearly finished? That would be very silly because there are great jobs for nurses who know coding! Many nurses would kill to have the coding that you will have.

The grass is always greener . . . that is what is driving your thinking. In this case it actually is not as green as you think it is. You just are not close enough to see it.

Nursing is very difficult and you will need to do it at a community college. That means math, English, anatomy, physiology, and everything else. What happens when you drop out of Andrews and then flunk A&P? You will have nothing. How will you support yourself in nursing school? A 2 year program means full time. You think you are busy now, but you have no idea!

You are not thinking rationally about the experience ssue. In what world would employers NOT want experience? And who told you that nurses need none? Or that they are guaranteed jobs at $30? You would be surprised at how many have trouble finding jobs. We have discussed this here before--you need certifications to get coding jobs and lots of certified coders get jobs with no experience. It is the certiications that matter.

Stop focusing on whether one job pays $4 an hour more! Even if it does, the length of time it will take to get there is too long. Finish coding so that you can start earning now.

Please stop with the fretting about ICD-10 takng so much time to learn. That is just ridiculous. It does not take very long at all. While ICD-9 might have take you several months, that was only because you were new to the concept. 10 is not completely new and different. It is very similar to 9. The code numbers just have more digits. You use them the same way. You use the same knowledge you have nowfor the most part.

Yes, you are on the right track. Finish what you started. If you cannot do that, you will not finish a nursing program, either.

Later if you want to go to nursing school, fine. Just finish this now.

Thanks - Anon

[ In Reply To ..]
That was the answer I was looking for! I needed that encouragement. To be honest, coding is the perfect job for me. I am an MT currently and I love being left alone to do my job. I got into coding when the MT business started to make some negative changes. I figured I needed a career to REPLACE transcription. I never dreamed that coding would be as hard as it is, so complex! I never dreamed that you could make as much money with coding as I have been seeing posted on various job boards, etc. (with credentials and experience).

Coding has turned into not just a replacement for my MT career, but actually a growth opportunity to go onto bigger and better things.

As I approach the last module of my course, however, I am overwhelmed by the larger in-depth reports that we are learning to code and all the different guidelines, rules, exceptions, etc. It's a lot. I panick and start to ask myself if I have what it takes, etc (even though I get A's on all of my coding exams). If I get 1-3 wrong, I stress myself out. Im very hard on myself.

Sometimes I think that nursing would be easier because you are learning about the body, disease processes, treatments, etc... and the human body is just that... the human body.. the same one that has been around for centuries.... you learn how it operates and you learn how to nurse people back to health. I guess that seems to be more logical thinking to me... whereas coding is just hard... with all of the guidelines, rules, and exception to the rules.

(if that makes any sense)

Im just sooooo nervous reaching the last module of my course, wondering if I will be able to pass the CCS and/or CPC exam.

I am a single mom of three kids, and I just want to get out of the rut I am in and start making decent money in a stable position. Been doing the MT thing since my oldest was born. Im tired of the feast and famine and the paycheck to paycheck.

Thanks for letting me rant!!!!

Further thoughts - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
You are just freaking out over the complexity thing, I think. Yes, coding is all those things you mentioned, but I can assure you that once you begin coding it will become less intimidating.

You will find that you will get it sorted out. You will also find that you do not need ALL of that information at once. If you do outpatient, you can put all of that inpatient stuff on the shelf. If you do inpatient, the outpatient can go on the shelf.

You will remember the stuff you use and you can look up the rest. Don't stress out over that.

Your 1-3 error expectations are admirable and a great GOAL, but don't stress out over it. You seem to be putting undue emphasis on this. That serves no useful purpose. I'll be blunt to get the necessary point across . . . you need to just stop that. Take my word for it and just leave that behavior at the door. It is not going to get you anywhere.

Do you vacuum and then freak out because of a few footprints? So much so that entire rooms cannot be used? That you have to examine the floor with a magnifying glass for fear there will be a stray bit of lint? No, and if you did I would suggest that your time would be better spent doing something else.

That is what I am telling you about coding. Just chill, get some perspective, and stop with the magnifying glass already! You WILL get some footprints on that carpet and it is not going to kill you. (If you get that worked up about things now, think about what you would do in nursing where you actually can kill someone!)

Fearful of not passing a cert exam? Well, you might not pass one. So what? At least them you will know what to study. You are unlikely to flunk the CPC but it comes with a free retake. Just do that one first to get confidence, then do the CCS.

So what if the reports are long. Break them down. You will soon learn to read for what you need. You cannot fret about that. It is another unhelpful behavior or attitude that prevents your learning.

I am learning something new right now. It seems daunting and I am constantly doubting myself. I think about quitting all the time. I do that because there is so much to know and so much skill required to actually do the work. I will have a whole organization relying on me soon and the time is short. What advice would you give ME?

People do this every day. The learn it and use it. I can learn it just like you can learn coding. And just like your literacy skills and MT helps in coding, coding helps me be better than most people with this stuff. I am going to be superb with this. Every day I have to talk myself down, though. Every day. I am getting tired of that. I understand what you are saying about your fears because I have them, too. They are just as difficult to ignore as they are for you. I just need to stop indulging in this ridiculous nonsensical worrying. I would recommend the same for you.

Maybe we can trade worries? You give me yours for safekeeping and I will give you mine. We can then get on with things without them. ;)

Further Thoughts - wonderful post! n/m - jan2

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n/m

Too funny.. - AndrewsMTGrad

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I just read this that you're an MT and I think I know you, but then again this story could be true for many of us. I do not find coding more difficult than MT but I had a really really tough time with the grammar required in module 1 of MT school. There again, we're all good at different things and I can rock a biochem class but stick me in an English class and I am hating life. I also HATED MT work. I mean I despised typing reports. Like I said in another post, we're all good at different things and for me coding isn't harder than MT but just different.

Just hang in there, okay? Your posts here are exactly like mine were at the end of MT school, really. You'll be just fine. Nursing is a lot harder and I don't know about you but I couldn't manage it with my kids. I'd love to return to clinical medicine but that isn't in the cards for me right now. Keeping up with coding more than enough.

Exactly - AndrewsMTGrad

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I agree with what this post has said. I work for a very large organization that has given me a scholarship to attend coding school due to the lack of qualified coders. The nursing shortage is not there any longer in some areas. I had a very long talk with our nursing managers a few months ago when I was thinking about getting back into clinical medicine. They all reported that in our area many nursing graduates from good schools are unable to find jobs. We're in a very large city with numerous healthcare facilities. I have a friend who is a nursing professor at a private college in the area and she reports the same thing. Even nurses need experience.

I agree as well about nurses and coding experience. Medicare and Medicaid hire auditors and CDIs that are nurses with coding knowledge. Those jobs pay quite well. Insurance companies hire code auditors and also often require an RN and some billing or coding experience. Also, you might find a flexible coding job you can do while you take nursing prerequisites.

Perspective - AndrewsMTGrad

[ In Reply To ..]
If you're asking that, I am guessing you have not had chemistry, microbiology or college algebra. I graduated from the Andrews MT program. Yes, it was challenging and I am not saying it wasn't; however, the required knowledge is not even comparable to the education to go into nursing unless what you're calling "nursing" is a CNA. An LPN is far less education, but even those programs are competitive in some areas. Check your local ADN (2-year RN) programs and look at the prerequisites. It isn't the tiny bit of anatomy and physiology you have to learn in an online coding program but an entire semester devoted to that course. Nurses need a semester of anatomy, a semester of physiology, a semester of biochemstry at a minimum and possibly more, a semester of microbiology, a semseter of pathophysiology and a semester of pharmacology. Typically you're also required to take sociology, psychology and other general education depending on your program. Our local RN programs require sociology 101 and psychology 101 prior to admission as well as a family and consumer studies course. Coding and MT schools are challenging but there is no comparison to nursing as far as academics. I know how challenging it is and I know that Andrews expects a lot, but to lend some perspective let me tell you what my coding program requires. I am at a large university. My prerequisites were anatomy with lab, physiology, pathophysiology and medical terminology. I had a more advanced anatomy class with diessection lab because of a background in healthcare prior to getting into MT. A lower level anatomy would have worked for admission. Once admitted to the program I am learning ICD-9 and ICD-10 simultaneously as well as taking 200- and 300-level courses in revenue compliance and data quality and such. I have a 3.2 cummulative GPA back from school the first time I was in college and have a 4.0 in coding and related classes. My cummulative GPA is too low to even be considered for the 2-year RN program. Our state only has 1 LPN program because we don't use LPNs here very much. There are plenty of nursing schools in the area that you can pay $35,000 for tuition for a 24-month program and hope someone hires you because your school is the butt of the local academic jokes and you won't have the rigorous admission process.

Coding school is hard, it really is. MT school was hard. Nursing school is on a whole different level though and if you're struggling with the medical content of coding it might not be doable. We're all good at different things and there is nothing wrong with that. Coding is a lucrative career. Nursing is too. I work in a patient care unit and see the grief nurses put up with and would encourage you to look at that aspect of it too. Is that extra salary worth the tremendous amount of time you'll spend on prerequisits and the abuse you take from patients? I just saw a nurse get spit on a few days ago and that isn't a rare sort of thing.

So hang in there. The grass just looks greener on the other side of the fence.

Procedure Knowledge - AndrewsMTGrad

[ In Reply To ..]
I wanted to add something about your comment about needing to know almost as much about procedures as a nurse. Trust me, I understand. You do have to know a lot to be a good coder or a good MT. I have also worked on the clinical side in another field where I was the one doing the procedures and the dictating. So I haven't been a nurse, but I have been on the other side of the fence. The level of knowledge really is very very different. What you need to learn as a coder or MT scratches the surface. Again, I totally understand you feeling that way though.

I cannot offer encouragement about coding because I have a job waiting for me, have no idea what the job outlook would be otherwise, and am also still in school. What I can tell you though is that if you knew my real name you could find probably 10 posts on the main board from me asking these same questions as an MT student back a few years ago. I was so sure I wouldn't find a job and was wasting my time. My first year out of school I worked from home, supplemented my husband's income, was at every single event for my kids and did homework with them every afternoon, and made $26,000 that first year. No, I didn't get rich but for the hours I put in I did pretty darn good. I never made minimum wage as an MT either other than one very brief time in a position that I quickly left. None of my fears came true.

So, I know how you feel and for me it worked out well. MT led me to where I am now and I am very good at the job I do and coding will enhance that even more. I am very good at my job, I love what I do, and I am making a decent salary. That should encourage you. :-)

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