As for macros, the hospital I am working at does NOT allow word expanders/macros for trainees, who are paid hourly. Trainees do not have any minimum lines per day/hour. Again, my employer demands QUALITY first -- QUANTITY second.

Of course, they do supply "normals" for doctors who have prepared them.

Here is a funny thing that happened the other day. I was emailing with the head proofer the other day after an across the company mail went out about using what is called a special key for the -year-old. Well, this special key once set up requires you to hit the alt button and a number key. The alt and numbers are a stretch for my fingers and slows me down in the process. So, I had set up macros (aka autokeys - where I work) for the ages from 1-90 and just had the number listed as 1y and it would expand to 1-year-old. This was a suggesting in the book Linda sent us. It works like a charm!

The head proofer wrote back and said she thought it was a lot of work setting them up like that. I wrote her back and explained that I had done this during a time when I was down due to faulty equipment. When I explained the extra time it took to reach for the alt key versus just two key strokes I was familar with and the fact that I could just scoot right along, she told me to do whatever was comfortable and saved me time. I also explained that it was a trick/tip listed in the book that Linda sent us after graduation.

I have also done certain drugs that way, as listed in the book and it saves tons of time. i4 = ibuprofen 400 mg. I use pq for p.o. q.d., since it is a common dosage schedule. Can you tell I love this program?

My hat is off to Linda who lighted the way to shortcuts and to MeMe and Fiddler who dragged me into the understanding of it all.

Sam

Annie

Well.... maybe similar to not using calculators in grammar school?

In nursing school we were not allowed to use calculators when making conversions. The theory was that calculators had batteries that run out (mind you, we were already tested many times on conversions by this time, and had all completed the required algebra courses). Of course, nobody's MIND runs out after 14 hours' work, right???? Nobody ever thought of carrying extra batteries, right??? There's only ONE calculator in a hospital, right??? Conversions came easily to me, up until hour 12 or so.....

Perhaps they wanted to see if the new MT's could actually transcribe each and every word in the macro, since they of course would not encounter the words in any other dictation.

Or maybe it's a trade secret, those two little keystrokes.

I personally HATE typing the word "epiluminescence". Take my macros away and I'll end up with my fingers permanently twisted into an Escher nightmare.

Laura

[This message has been edited by law (edited December 11, 1999).]

I am doing operative reports and discharge summaries -- heavy terminology -- and am learning words and phrases hand over fist! Every day I am stopping to make more and more macros of these words and phrases, which is time-consuming but which I know will pay off in the end.

One problem I've run into as a newbie using "macros" is having errors in the report because the macro text isn't *exactly* what is dictated. I haven't sent in a report with an error like this in it, thank goodness, because I proof carefully after typing the report, but I have caught myself numerous times and either had to revise the macro or add additional versions of it.

Another drawback to a newbie using macros that I have found is that often the same abbreviation means different things, depending on context. Having the macro auto-expand an abbreviation without checking it first (and I am still at the point where I have to check and recheck almost all abbreviations that I hear, except for the most common) can give you an incorrect expansion that is out of context, simply due to ignorance that there are other meanings for that abbreviation. And oldie would probably never make these errors in context, but to a newbie, it is hard to determine which expansion applies. Relying on the expander and not looking these abbreviations up can inhibit actual "transcribing" of the report (meaning understanding, editing, making logical decisions on word meaning for understanding of the report as a whole, etc.) as opposed to simply typing it without following the details of the procedure/report.

Well, those are my thoughts anyway.

But I continue to add to my database and am enjoying those reports where almost every word is part of a macro'd phrase or is a single word macro. For instance, I love the sentence "Pupils equal, round, reactive to light and accommodation; extraocular muscles intact." That's "pperrla; eomi." Or "The patient was brought to the Operating Room and prepped and draped in the usual sterile fashion." That's "ttp w brought to t or8 and pdusf" for now; I'm hoping to make this one short macro phrase in future, but my doctors say this in such a wide variety of ways, it's easier for me now to do it piece-meal. I know to you old-ies these little macros are nothing, but to me it's sheer delight! (I can hear you now, isn't that cutest little thing, all those little macros?

Guess I'll pipe down now and let others get a word in. Have a good night all, and thanks for the good questions, Linda.

-Amy

There is a trick for shortforms (my term for macro) that have multiple meanings and for when you don't want it to expand. I'll throw out an example.

CVA can mean cerebral vascular accident OR
CVA can mean costovertebral angle.

In this case you would create a shortform for it as follows:

cva (lower case) to expand to CVA (upper case)

cva1 to expand to cerebral vascular accident AND
cva2 to expand to costovertebral angle.

I do this with all my abbreviations. The first one never has a number attached and is in lower case but expands to upper case, thus saving the time to press the Caps Lock. The full expansion has an arabic numeral. The trick is just remembering which numeral expands it if it has multiple meanings.

Hope this is helpful. By the way, I use Abbreviate. It works in all Windows applications, even e-mail and on the Net so you don't have to switch to full typing mode when you're not doing transcription.

Patty

I'll also keep your suggestion in mind for the multiple meanings; right now I still have to look everything up to make sure I'm not making an incorrect assumption. :O

Thanks so much!

-Amy