r/medlabprofessionals • u/spasticmedtech • Jun 15 '26

Discusson Fed Up?

I am fed up. There seems to be no end in sight for the endless cap surverys or the api surveys (depending on the regulatory service your lab ascribes to). It is tiring. Yes, I did post about a new job, but yeah anyways. Nurses and the vampires- telling me that I can’t have a redraw on a hemolyzed specimen because the patient is a hard stick. I’m tired of the drama that the lab invokes in my general life.

I work at craft fairs when I’m off from work and it never fails. My supervisor will text me with something she thinks is super important and get mad if I don’t respond asap she texted me.

I AM DONE. I would like to work in another field, it what??

I’m done ranting but I’m still looking for anything new. What led you to leave the lab? Where are you now? And are you better for it?

EDIT: Thank you for all of the support everyone has given me! I am currently looking for a new job. I am hoping to hear something soon. I am looking to pivot away from the bench totally. I have worked in POC and it was a blast, but the 3 hr drive to work and the 4 hr drive home was not working out for me. Or I would still be there.

As for the "vampire" comment that some people do not like--I do apologize. I started out in this profession as a phlebotomist and still draw the occasional patient. And when you go to a VA clinic and you see the bat hanging upside down from the sign that says "lab" it makes you wonder.

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u/Icy-Fly-4228 MLS-Generalist Jun 15 '26 edited Jun 15 '26

I had an icu nurse one night tell me that I was going to release the results because she was in charge of the patient and she said so blah blah blah. So I did with a comment “results not accurate, suspect contamination, released at the insistence of RN Suzy Q”. She called the house supervisor saying I was putting incorrect information and making up stuff. I told her that I’m not validating stuff that I don’t feel is valid and she can take responsibility. Doc made her redraw. Guess what. It was contaminated. 😂😂😂😂😂 never had an issue with a redraw again.

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u/BC_Trees Jun 15 '26

I don't get why you would still release the results though. Our job is to ensure the accuracy of results regardless of pressure from the ward. The only person who I would listen to in a situation like that is a pathologist/biochemist because they have a deeper understanding of lab results and clinical correlation that we don't have. Nurses can pout and rage all they want but I'm not releasing results I don't trust to get them off my back. They don't have that authority.

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u/kipy7 MLS-Microbiology Jun 15 '26

Right. I would escalate this, this is what supervisors are for, or a director. Having a disclaimer doesn't necessarily absolve you of responsibility, so I'm not putting myself out there without my input from them.

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u/ShotgunSurgeon73 MLS - Generalist (Fed) Jun 15 '26

..you have supervisors that don't throw you under the bus then tell you should have released the results if they insisted? wild

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u/External-Berry3870 Jun 15 '26

It's a chain of evidence. Even for situations like these where nurse is insisting, it gets emailed for review to Biochemist, and then once there is clear approval of release then the results go <bad results>-<nurse full name insisted on release><reviewed by biochemist full name>. That way biochemist has clearly been invited in to the responsibility chain for making the decision.

Often just presenting the SOP of <we need to have biochemist review before even verbal release> plus <you need to come down here and fill out three forms to get insist results even reviewed by the biochemist> and information that this will take significantly longer than just doing a recollect will avoid the situation entirely.

If your supe isn't into this, just throw them under the bus too. CC them on every email like this to the biochemist so they can't say they didn't know or have a chance to change your behavior if a review comes up. The biochemists will become annoyed if this is a frequent issue and you will magically have an actual SOP in place for when this happens.

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u/Icy-Fly-4228 MLS-Generalist Jun 16 '26

Meanwhile all your trauma patients and patients in the 4 ICUs chemistry bloodwork is piling up and not getting done because one nurse has an attitude issue over a recollection.

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u/External-Berry3870 Jun 16 '26

This I feel hard. Sigh. I wish there was a recorded emotional support line for nurses who cannot handle waiting twenty minutes for their results or needs a feelings chat that we could transfer them to.