A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry
No viable options. STUCK! Can't move. Can't progress. Can't do work. Don't know what to do AT ALL. Signed off my shift in exactly this situation. This happened a couple of nights ago. Now it's being demanded that I sign a Written Warning which mis-states the cause for action, and I have refused to sign it. Conference call on Monday. Details follow:
Never ONE TIME in over ten years of working for Medquist have I EVER, NOT ONCE, encountered a Demographic Page/ ADP Input Page which asked me to the patient's social security number. NOT ONCE IN TEN YEARS.
Of course, when I signed on for my shift a few nights ago, I immediately began to get jobs from a state from which I had never gotten work before. It is in the region I work in, but I've never had a job from that state before. I've never had a job from that "facility" before that night. I've never had this dictator/doctor before. What I have had is a few doctor's from the same facility -- since this shift began -- who have supplied sketchy, contradictory work types and work, completely inadequate demographics, and mumbled the names of doctors who are supposed to be receiving letters.
But I did the best I could with these "issues"/things and proceeded, at a snail's pace, because I was hunting all over virtual creation to try to pull together what I needed for ADT.
Next job comes up. In the mandatory ADT, it wants the patient's social security number. The doctor doesn't dictate it. It doesn't appear anywhere below in the optional info (in fact, I don't think any optional info came up). So I filled out the rest of the availalbe demographic information and decided to try to enter it -- go on and type the job. NO WAY I keep getting a message "in my face" that tells me in what format to enterthe required patient social security number.
Well, I don't have the patient social security number. I keep stubbornly repeating the futile exercise of trying to open the job. I have NEVER EVER ENCOUNTERED A SITUATION WHERE IT WAS NECESSARY OR DESIRABLE FOR ME TO ENTER A BUNCH OF ZERO'S IN A JOB -- AND THAT WOULD "DO THE TRICK" of opening it up. YES, I have seen the system propose in 999999 for a possible selection of "no dictation. That's as close as I have ever come to an option of anything like 000-00-000. BUT IT NEVER EVEN CROSSED MY MIND, FOR WHATEVER REASON, TO TRY FILLING IN THE PATIENT'S SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER WITH ZEROs. After all, 000-00-000 is NOT A SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER.
Well, I couldn't get around this situaiton; so I finally decided this would be a job that I would ABORT. I would get rid of this job and then go on, getting the next job and continue working. I COULDN'T ABORT THE JOB. IT JUST KEPT COMING BACK TO ME. What I mean is, I aborted it, and it came back, and back, and back. But I couldn't type/eidit it because I couldn't get past the ADT.
It was about 12:45 a.m. I work "red-eye" shifts (have done for about 9 years). Can't call the office and ask for advice at 12:45 a.m.
The whole process was exhausting because of the endless frustration. I FINALLY DECIDED TO STOP WORKING. I FELT LIKE I WAS JAMMED UP AGAINST A WALL.
I SIGNED OFF THE SYSTEM AND THE SCHEUDLE AND STOPPED. I then wrote a note to my CCM explaining the situation and that I had stopped working because I was STUCK.
You know what if feels like to be in a car in a humongous traffice jam at rush-hour, where you simply cannot move. All you wanna do is MOVE. But YOU CAN'T MOVE. YOU'RE STUCK. THAT'S WHY I SIGNED OFF WORK EARLY.
NOW, I'M BEING TOLD I MUST SIGN A WRITTEN WARNING TO GO INTO MY H.R. FILE. The warnng states the reason for "disciplinary action" as SIGNED OFF SHIFT BECAUSE OF UNFAMILIAR WORK.
I will not sign it. I don't care what the consequences are. i will not sign it. i will not. i will not. i will not. i will not. i WILL NOT SIGN IT.
Am I burned out? Why no. Of course not. I was informed that my CCM, her boss and H.R. all agreed that I must sign the form. I said, I WILL NOT SIGN IT AND I WANT TO TALK TO THE PERSON IN H.R. WHO FILLED OUT THE FORM.
Conference call tomorrow morning (Monday). I suppose I'll probably get fired. DO I CARE ANY MORE. WHY NO, NOT AT ALL. I'M TOO BLOODY TIRED TO CARE.
And the thing that I AM THE MOST TIRED OF IS TRYING TO UNDERSTAND DOCTORS WHO MUMBLE THEIR DICTATION. That is the memory I will carry for LIFE in my head, from my "probable last shift of work," --- a lot of doctors from the state of Connecticut, mostly NOT ESL's, but the one ESL spoke much more carefully that all the doctors who were Engish-as-a-first-language speakers.
I'll tell you what --- I don't mind if some lucky transriptionist/editor from SPHERIS gets my shifts!!!!
I've figured out I can live without this income, and I can get another job pretty quickly.