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Unit Secretary - Carol

Posted: May 22, 2010

I am thinking about applying for a unit secretary position at a local hospital. Hours are 7-3:30, full time, Monday through Friday. Not sure about the pay scale yet.

Has anyone here worked in that capacity? I think my medical terminology knowledge would be useful. I am concerned about future employment in the MT field, especially the declining wage structure.

Your MT experience may or may not help. It depends upon -- - SM

[ In Reply To ..]
what they expect of their unit secretaries. Some do mostly booking of appointments and filing, some act more as go-fers around the clinic, others do a lot of correspondence and transcription, or it could be any combination of the above. It depends upon the facility and the specific office/clinic one is in.

Thanks for your reply. - Carol

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If called in for an interview, I wll be sure to inquire fully of the duties of the position, since I have no experience as a unit secretary and am not familiar with the required tasks involved.

I actually think I might enjoy some variety and not have to be glued to my computer screen for multiple hours pounding away at the keyboard, which I have been doing for over 20 years now.

If you like variety, you will love it - Former Unit Secretary

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I was unit secretary/clerk at a psychiatric facility and loved it. It involved a variety of duties, from processing paperwork to getting transfers organized to reading patients their rights under a 5150 (and persuading them to sign the paperwork), transcribing progress notes...I loved it, and it was while I was a unit clerk that the lead MT took me under her wing and mentored me into being an MT (ironic, huh?).

Like I said, if you like variety, you'll love it. I don't think the pay is all that great although nowadays it might pay more than being an MT, which certainly wasn't the case back then.

Good luck to you and keep us updated.

Everyone seems to have loved this position. sm - myka

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Everyone who replied said that they loved being a unit secretary. Can you call share why you left the job? I would love to find something that I love to do again!

Why I left the job -sm - travelinMT

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The only downside no one has mentioned to this job was the hours and days. I transferred out to a different job when my husband and I split up. Until that time I worked the 3:15-11:45 p.m. shift. I only needed a babysitter for about 1-1/2 hours in the afternoon and then my husband was home from work. That helped a lot in how much I brought home because I only worked part-time. At that time 16 hrs. gave you full medical and dental for the entire family so I looked at that as additional income I was bringing into the house. Then when we split I took a FT job day shift but that is when it got really hard. I set my weekends I worked up to coincide with the weekends he had my boys, but then he would call the last minute on Friday night and announce he was working OT for the weekend and wouldn't be able to take them. I was left trying to find someone who wanted to watch two little boys at 6:15 a.m. on Sat and Sun mornings so I transferred into the insurance dept M-F day shift. One day I was walking down the hall, saw the Chief of Nuc. Med, who had worked a lot of extra shifts at the hospital when I worked part time, and he asked me why I didn't apply for the position as his secretary because his secretary had quit. I got the job and learned how to transcribe flying by the seat of my pants. From Nuc. Med I went to Radiology to teaching MT at a school to Outpatient QA, inpatient QA to a consultant for transcription and HIM. I guess you can say I have been a little bit of everything in my career.

Thanks for sharing that, travelinMT! - myka

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That was so interesting to read. Thanks for sharing all that. Do you have a favorite job out of everything you have done? I am jealous. I became complacent and have just been an IC MT for 20 years. I would love to have had the experience you have!

Favorite job - sm - travelinMT

[ In Reply To ..]
Yep, drinking margarita's with my toes in the sand on a beach at sunset in Puerto Vallarta, LOL.

Actually, I really liked QA and chart analysis. While you need to be an RN to do full Q.A. work, I did criteria based chart analysis where I looked for specific patient care criteria that was met or not met. I actually got to help start up breast cancer, prostate cancer, colorectal cancer and HIV tracking programs. We had specific criteria for continunity of patient care in all those different areas and we tracked the patients to make sure they did not fall through the cracks in their care or diagnosis. That was always the one thing that drove me nuts about MT; if I transcribed a report on a patient and I really wanted to know the outcome, the chances of transcribing the follow-up on that patient were almost next to impossible. So I guess I could say I liked analyzing the charts and setting up suitable criteria for the patient's care. For example, how long is an acceptable time frame from the time a woman gets a report of a suspicious finding on her mammogram to the time a definitive diagnosis is given? We named that timeframe "sleepless nights" and the critera was 48 hours. Within 48 hours she got whatever appropriate followup care was deemed necessary for her findings...additional mammogram views, ultrasound, biopsy, etc. and within 48 hours she had an answer whether or not it was breast cancer. So you got to see it from the beginning to the end results. Outside the hospital/clinic setting, my love was vocational education teaching and seeing someone go from either no skills or outdated skills into the workplace as a productive person was really rewarding. The woman that was newly separated and had no workplace job skills or the young person that was struggling to break free of the welfare grips. There is something special about seeing the pride they have in their eyes when they realize they can really make a life outside of the circumstances that were holding them back before.

Unit Secretary - travelinMT

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I started my hospital career as a unit secretary. I worked on a short stay surgical unit. This has been many years ago but the duties are pretty basic. You direct visitors, answer the phone on the unit. When I did it nothing was electronic so I transferred the doctors orders to a nursing cardex (the RN would verify and sign off on the chart). If labs or x-rays or tests were ordered by the doc, I filled out the requisitions. I was required to attend all code Blues and recorded time called, time CPR was started, meds given, time code was over and all people in attendance. That form became part of the patient's chart. Now the unit secretaries are sometimes trained to do EKG, watch cardiac monitors at the nurses station. It was a job I loved as things were constantly new and different. Your terminology and knowledge of drugs and labs will be an asset to you. A lot of these duties will now be done via EMR and you "may" act as a scribe for that purpose. I also had to make sure the labs, chest x-ray, EKG, signed consent for surgery were all on the chart and signed off before the patient went to surgery.

Hope that helps.

Unit Secretary - tired, tired MT

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Go for it, your knowledge will be extremely useful. I used to be a unit secretary, before everything went electronic - answered phones, filed, directed visitors, transcribed orders, initiated requistions for lab work, prepared charts for surgery, attended codes (paperwork only) and also watched monitors on occasion in the CCU.

Unit Secretary - older MT

[ In Reply To ..]
I worked as a unit secretary in ICU some years ago. I was responsible for taking the doctor's orders and getting them on the charts, making nurses aware of anything that needed signed, coordination of transporting patients, etc. There was a lot of chart work. I really enjoyed it.

Unit Clerk - Catgrrl

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I, too, worked as a unit clerk and/or secretary for 3 years before I became an MT. I loved it.

Considering switching from MT to health unit coordinator - anonymous

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I applied several times at a local hospital, but always turned down. I thought I was qualified, but I didn't realize what was involved in the position. I finally found out from the nursing recruiter that you have to take college classes to be considered. Before I spend the money or time, do unit clerks make pretty good money? I, too, am in my 50s and have been an MT for over 20 years. Just wondering if it is worth the switch this late in my life. Any advice is appreciated.

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