Q&A: Riley Schultz

We asked Riley Schultz, ScribeAmerica alumna and current nurse at HRMC, about her experience working with ScribeAmerica:

Tell us a little bit about your background. How did you get started with ScribeAmerica?

When I was in college at Missouri Western, they came around and were just starting the program at Mosaic or Heartland, what it was called then. They were recruiting people saying if you have an interest in anything in the medical field, whether it be nursing or pre-med, this would be a great opportunity to help grow your knowledge in the background stuff and see real-life type things without getting your hands dirty.

Why are you interested in working in healthcare?

All my family is in healthcare, my parents are nurses, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, so I don’t really know anything else. I really do enjoy helping people, and it was a way for me to connect with our community and do that while staying the family course and doing what I know. 

What have you learned from exploring different areas of medicine? What is your preferred specialty?

Right now I’m a forensic nurse in the ER, and that is my preferred specialty. I actually was pre-med first, so I have a biology degree and I get to mix those with my nursing skills, which is perfect. I love both of those and the way I get to do that to help people. I think in exploring the medical field, you get to find your niche. Just because something doesn’t work, there are so many opportunities to go and try something else and try something new within that.

What advice would you give future scribes?

My advice would be to take the job and just be open-minded and learn from all those experiences. Get to know the physicians or providers you’re working with and learn what you can from them. Ask questions. They know you’re learning and that you are there to want to learn while also working, so they love to feed into that and help you grow.

Would you recommend being a scribe to others?

Absolutely. I learned so much from my time as a scribe. I think it really helped me with my background in nursing. Not only the medical aspect of things, disease processes, medications, and things like that, but also how to deal with those situations before just going to school and going in blind.

What is next for you in your professional career?

Currently, we are growing our forensic program. We were just sexual assault, and now we do elder abuse, child abuse, domestic violence, assaults, gunshot wounds, and stab wounds, so I’m focusing on advancing my role in that project.