A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry

respect for ARNPs and the like - sm

Posted: Apr 23, 2011

I have a really hard time respecting some of these dictators when they say things like "no congenial abnormalities" meaning congenital. And stumbling around before finally spelling words that a 4th grader could pronounce.

When I go to the doctor, living very rural, oftentimes it will be the NPs or PAs who examine you and render a diagnosis. I realize there are good ones and bad ones, but if the threshold for getting their degrees is so low that they can regularly make these dictating errors, how in the heck can I trust them to give me decent diagnoses and/or treatment? Oh, and not to mention that I pay the same amount for their opinion as I would for the regular doctor on duty. No thanks, I'll drive farther for an MD or DO.

Am I just getting old and cranky, or do others feel this way?

Well... - MT

[ In Reply To ..]
I have a great deal of respect for nurses of all levels.

I did notice, though, that they tend just use their electronic device to prescribe a medication, like their Googling something or something. A little scary.

Disagree - Anonymous

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Dictation skills do not necessarily translate into the best medical care and physicians make just as many errors as mid level practitioners. The word "congenital" could have been misspelled on the document the provider was reading from. Some of them don't possess the best grammar skills, that is why they are practitioners and we are transcriptionists. Using a hand-held device to prescribe medications? Why is that wrong? I have never equated dictation skills with the quality of medical care. If I did, I'd change doctors every other week.

I differ - sm

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I don't consider this a dictation skill or lack thereof, I consider it an understanding issue, or at the very least an inattentive issue (not thinking about what is being read). That could sure translate into patient care, IMHO.

You've never misspoken? - SM - Anonymous

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You've never made an incorrect word choice when speaking or made a typo? They're not perfect, they're human. They are care providers. That is why there are MTs and editors. Unless the error was made in your record, it is not your concern.

you don't get it - so nevermind

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I am not talking about a one-time error. I am talking about repeated blunders and the requirements for the title they wear. I am not trying to elevate myself or put them down (my best forever friend is a nurse), so you can get off your high horse. Howabout I just withdraw the original question, eh?

maybe you should, now that you have that '''tude, Dude.''' - slam me for slang now, does not make me unintellig

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that was rude.
and hightly uncalled for - IMHO

not everyone sees through your eyes and people will disagree. so what?

No, I don't get it - Anonymous

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Good luck finding that perfect practitioner who dictates perfectly and never makes a grammatical blunder. I'm still not convinced that it has much to do with patient care. They hate to dictate, I don't know if you knew that. I know many excellent physicians and ARNPs who are crappy dictators. As far as getting off my "high horse," the last time I checked, having an opinion of my own was permitted.

rural person, if people disagree, does not mean they do not understand you. - Im jsut saying

[ In Reply To ..]
.

Not just you, I've been saying this for about five years now. - Hi there!

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Move over on the bench so I can park my walker next to yours, and pass the Boost. :-)

I've developed a lack of patience and respect for NPs, PAs, nurses AND medical students. And for someone who will inevitably ask "What if your life depends on one of them?", I have made a living will and death isn't half as scary as ending up stuck on life support from someone's incompetence...I'm good to go.

This isn't about ESLs (I actually have more sympathy for them compared to native English speakers) or simple "misspeaking". I'm talking about widespread substandard education on English fundamentals, phonics and medical roots/prefixes/suffixes. If a nurse, PA, NP or even a transcription student leaves their program without being able to sound out medical words (instead of saying the first syllable and then mumbling over the rest) or being able to write a well-constructed sentence (see the poor girl who just finished school and wonders why she's been advised to seek mentoring), then I do not want my care to be dependent on anything that person produces. The nursing profession is noble, no doubt about it--but if you can't read my X-rays or pronounce my medications in order to relay that information to an actual doctor, you need to get far away from me.

This may be the saddest thing: Even doctors have become so specialized that they don't know how to pronounce terminology and medications from another subspecialty.

wow, so glad someone understands! - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
and yes, I'll move over and even share my Boost! and to add to the original post, I had a PA who took YEARS!! to ask me about whether I was getting Pap smears and such, as he confessed he was "embarrassed" to talk about it (he had been a PA for over 10 yr at that point). That was the last time I saw him. We just keep dumbing down in this country. I sure hope the pendulum is about to swing. Anyway, thanks for your post.

On the other hand.... - a1typist

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I used to work in a large hospital and we had a neurosurgeon who was the worst dictator on staff....I swear he sounded mentally retarded. I don't know if dictating scared him or he was in a hurry, but I know for a fact that he was one of the most skilled surgeons ever to practice in our city. Sometimes what comes out of their mouth is not what is in their brain!

So true, both of you. That some people, for instance, - MissIndigo

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don't take in information as well by reading as, say, listening or from pictures is dismaying since by far most information is typically available only in the written form, but of course it doesn't make them stupid or incompetent, per se. Like that surgeon, and I try to keep that in mind.

Nevertheless, I tend to assume I can tell if person reads professional materials extensively by whether his dictation uses written-language phrasing, not formal, just educated. I also get the strong impression some of those nurses only started paying attention in class in nursing school, and they don't go there to make up for all the missed English lessons in their past.

But dumbing down, no kidding. I was once in an ICU when the ICU nurse was trying to answer a physician's questions over the phone but ranging from sloppily incomplete to wildly inaccurate (on a measurement). If in all the time she'd been practicing she'd thought to tack down just how long a centimeter was, noted how many centimeters long the first joint of her thumb and how wide her hand, say, she'd never have told the doctor a rattlesnake-bite lesion was 1/3 its actual size. Unbelievable! I was standing there trying not to hyperventilate or grab the phone from her. That poor patient, and his poor physician! Poor me because that particular patient was my 12-year-old son.

I agree !!! - nina

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When there is a PA out there who consistently dictates "smoking sensation," then there is a HUGE PROBLEM!!! He has been dictating this for at least 6 months now, so it's not just a careless mistake. They make way too much money to not know the correct thing to say in regards to stopping smoking. Unbelievable!!

does not bother me. they've always dictated garbage - - anon

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I find it only exists in dictation - otherwise, my docs have been excellent, and are very well educated.

they are lazy dictators...so what? get used to it.

100% agree! Another rural person...nm - MNMT

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

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