Transcribing Entrails
Well, I’ve been training on my new job for a 4 days now. I have a good conception of what the job entails. (Ever notice that ‘entails’ and ‘entrails’ are only one letter apart? Coincidence? I think not!)
Anyway, it’s a lot of shuffling papers, answering phones and a surprising amount of "transcribing"; literally copying notes word-for-word from one worksheet to another. I spend hours a day copying words verbatim, BY HAND, onto various triplicate forms. There must be a hundred different forms to fill out! It’s straight out of the movie Brazil, I’m telling you. Hell, we even have an elaborate pneumatic tube system come to think of it! Just like in the movie.
But all this transcribing and filling out forms makes me fear for my job. It feels so antiquated that I’m sure any day now the role I’m performing will be replaced by computer. I’m very surprised it has not been already. I guess it’s just a matter of the administrators of the hospital not wanting to make the investment in a computer system to perform the role.
I suppose a Unit Clerk will still have a role to play even when all the forms are computerized because anything that the hospital can get a Unit Clerk to do for half the pay of a nurse, they will eagerly oblige.
Nurses make so much money. Damn I wish so badly that I wanted to be a nurse. Fresh out of school, they start at $25/hr base pay. Plus they get $3-5/hr for evening or night shift, plus another dollar or so an hour for various specialty certifications that only take a few hundred hours of school to get. Plus they have ample opportunity to work overtime. Plus you could be a travelling nurse and make half again as much plus free room and board if you were willing to work temorarily in another city. Plus they have a wide variety of shifts and jobs to choose from and ample opportunities for advancement. Plus my hospital will pay you $5000/year towards your nursing-related academic expenses if you choose to persue a nursing degree. So basically, with less than a Bachelor's degree, you could have employers begging you to work for them for $25 - $50/hr right out of school. Arg.
Anyway, it’s a lot of shuffling papers, answering phones and a surprising amount of "transcribing"; literally copying notes word-for-word from one worksheet to another. I spend hours a day copying words verbatim, BY HAND, onto various triplicate forms. There must be a hundred different forms to fill out! It’s straight out of the movie Brazil, I’m telling you. Hell, we even have an elaborate pneumatic tube system come to think of it! Just like in the movie.
But all this transcribing and filling out forms makes me fear for my job. It feels so antiquated that I’m sure any day now the role I’m performing will be replaced by computer. I’m very surprised it has not been already. I guess it’s just a matter of the administrators of the hospital not wanting to make the investment in a computer system to perform the role.
I suppose a Unit Clerk will still have a role to play even when all the forms are computerized because anything that the hospital can get a Unit Clerk to do for half the pay of a nurse, they will eagerly oblige.
Nurses make so much money. Damn I wish so badly that I wanted to be a nurse. Fresh out of school, they start at $25/hr base pay. Plus they get $3-5/hr for evening or night shift, plus another dollar or so an hour for various specialty certifications that only take a few hundred hours of school to get. Plus they have ample opportunity to work overtime. Plus you could be a travelling nurse and make half again as much plus free room and board if you were willing to work temorarily in another city. Plus they have a wide variety of shifts and jobs to choose from and ample opportunities for advancement. Plus my hospital will pay you $5000/year towards your nursing-related academic expenses if you choose to persue a nursing degree. So basically, with less than a Bachelor's degree, you could have employers begging you to work for them for $25 - $50/hr right out of school. Arg.