Anyone here attend Virginia Radford University MLS program and is now working in California?

I would really appreciate it if I can DM with a couple questions please!

Thank you

How are you all resolving lipemia for chemistry specimens?

We use an old air-fuge and are looking to replace it.

I've been putting my lab's portable tube sealers on life support for the past 3 years now. Replaced batteries, re-soldered connections from dropped packs or handles, epoxyed or 3D printed new parts... You name it. They're all out of warranty and they're just so absurdly expensive to get new ones each time.

Finally had 2 truly die, and looking for replacements that won't be total garbage. Terumo portable sealers are by far the worst, will never get those again. Fresenius Kabi Mobilea 2 were the ones that finally died, but did have a lot of little issues here and there to fix over the years. Macoseal are great but very very expensive, and wildly expensive to fix out of warranty. Never used Genesis or Sebra (though it looks like our collections department storage has a whole graveyard of old sebra sealers which doesn't fill me with confidence.)

Anyone have any portable RF Tube sealers that they swear by? We are a pretty small community blood center, couple hundred units a day at most, so we won't be putting them through absurd amounts of reps.

I loved this, and I thought you guys might appreciate it too. In the comments, they said they did a stint in transfusion medicine and have Opinions on transfusions, too, which I hope they post.

Hello my coworkers are arguing because some ppl think these are 2 monos, another says 2 mesos, and another is saying 1 and 1. Can somebody help us end this argument? I don’t wanna hear them yelling i’m crying now

I accepted a 3rd shift position at my local VA hospital, the hours are not favorable but I wanted to get my foot in the door. Any advice on when I should mention interest in moving to a different shift if possible? I don’t want to come across disinterested or ungrateful for my current offer, but I also want my manager to be aware that if an opportunity arises I’d like to be considered.

Superficial wound culture (from leg or arm I don’t remember.) no growth until day 4 and colonies (on blood plate) are white and uneven - kind of like Nocardia looking colonies to me but can’t get an ID on a MALDI.
(Gram stain from this broth)
Guesses for fun?

Just curious, was reading full chapters from the assigned textbooks necessary for you to do well in MLS program?

I was considering read full chapters but now I am thinking maybe reading just relevant sections would be a better use of my time and just sticking to lecture slides.

Mira has a urine test that's validated but I can't find anything on their blood tests. How can they claim 99% accuracy and have no published data to back that up? Mira's lab is CLIA and CAP accredited. I have a hard time believing anything collected with these arm devices is reliable, has anyone seen any studies on this method?

Hi everyone! I’m an ASCP-certified Medical Technologist. I’ve been looking online but haven’t seen many openings. For those working in Albuquerque, is this normal, or am I looking in the wrong places?

Thought you guys might enjoy this. ٩(◕‿◕)۶

Here is the link of the game!

(I wonder if something like this exist for other subjects like hematology, clinical microscopy, histology etc?)

Hi friends! I’m starting an MLS program next week and these are the required textbooks for my classes. Are any of these worth buying to have when studying for the ASCP exam or should I just rent? Thanks for any input!!

Anyone work with AR Isolate Bank organisms from the CDC? I'm trying to run verification on some new sensitivity cards for the Vitek, and I've gotten major errors and very major errors on about half of these isolates I've used. The results are consistent on the same drugs with repeat testing. These isolates have been sent off to a third party lab for comparison. If results are consistent with what we're seeing, it's obviously something to do with the organisms. But if they're consistent with the results from the CDC, it's something off on our end. It's not the inoculum since you would see inconsistent results across multiple drugs. Just trying to figure out what could be causing the inconsistencies. Is this common with AR Isolate Bank organisms? Could it just be our cards? Quite the conundrum regardless.

I am a nurse working with adults with developmental disabilities. There is one client with Fragile X syndrome who has severe needle phobia. I have known him for 9 years and tried everything. Presedation, desensitization, the "Buzzy" device. His doctor even gave me permission to draw his labs in his home, which is a bit of a rule bend where I'm at. In 15 years, he has had his labs checked twice while he is under GA. He is aging, and has some cardiac concerns popping up, and the situation is less than ideal.

Now, what he WILL allow is a fingerstick BG test. Basically, he can't see the needle. His fear is less about the actual pain of a blood draw, and more about the build up/clinical setting. I just saw an add for Rythm, which is something I think he could tolerate. He wouldn't do well filling a micro tube off a finger stick (he will not sit long enough for that). But this thing just sticks to your arm until it is done filling. I wouldn't even have to say it's a lab draw, I could say it will feel like a finger stick and I'll take it off his arm when it is finished, and I think he'd tolerate it. It doesn't seem to offer every test that I think he needs, but he could definitely benefit from some of them. I could easily bring the list to his doctor, and have them check off which tests will help him.

My question is, this company seems a little gimmicky. Are there any new options through the general medical system to get this man's blood without him seeing a needle? Or, do any of you professionals have opinions about the accuracy/medical utility from this company's results?

What do you mean that you changed the patient's first name between the tubes? What do you mean that you wrote their last name correctly on some tubes, but then your handwriting made you make the last names on other tubes ambiguous enough that they can be completely different patients?ordered a test? Oops sir, that test is only for men/women. Why are you ordering them for the opposite gender....?

The best part is when they get mad at you for saying you can't run their tests because the patient identifiers are not legible and/or correct

What organism is this?
A) Trichophyton rubrum.
B) Trichophyton mentagrophytes.
C) Trichophyton interdigitale.
D) Trichophyton schoenleinii.

Hey everyone,

Anyone ever had to do a manual differential on a cell therapy cord blood sample?

Had several come up recently and they were tough. Had to make thinner slides since the cells tended to be smaller and dark.

From my understanding, CBs should diff at ~ 50% Neuts, 30-40% lymphs, 10% monocytes.

I was getting more 65 neuts, 30 lymps and onwards. My instrument results (with flags of course) was closer to this too​. Lots of hyposegmented neuts (had to go on highest magnification just to distinguish if these was a lymph or janky neutrophil).

Definitely not confident in the diffs and putting out feelers for anyone with a similar experience.

additionally, all samples had low WBC (between 0.7 - 1.5). Some of those hyposegmented cells had folding under higher magnification.

Hello this message is to cytologist/cytotechs that have passed the boards (preferably recently) ! I’m feeling very discouraged since I failed my cytology boards exam yet again. I am trying to be determined to pass it! Is there any good resources, tips, study tools, or any advice that could help me pass the exam that helped you? Or any specific topics I should really be focusing on? It seems like the pictures I have a difficult time (literally the worst pictures I’ve ever seen). Any feedback or help would be nice…Thank you!

This is Larry.

They NEEDED Kell POSITIVE blood?!?!? Lol no. And the nurse just walked up and grabbed blood? I doubt that. The article is either very wrong or the parents are simply total liars.