WEEK 8: LAB

This week I did my clinical observations with a lab technician as we as a bio medical technician. This area of the hospital is very different from all the other departments due to its isolation and the fact that it does not have any patients. It is very small and isolated.I stayed in this area and also went to the biomedical lab.

Things I learned this week;

• which specimens are taken and tested 
• how they test them
• how long they last
• abnormalities in blood

The best thing that happened this week was the fact that the techs were very informative and they did everything they could to teach me. It was easier to do since there were no patients or charting. It felt kind of like a science class.

The worst thing that happened this week is that I was feeling really ill and dizzy and it was hard for me to pay attention but I did the best I could and retained a little bit of it.

overall this week was OK

      

What I Observed..

Technology

• centrifuge
• microscopes
• hematology analyzer

Diagnostic procedures

• urine tests
• whole blood tests
• plasma tests
• toxicity tests

Therapeutic procedures

• charting of the diagnosis to the nurses

Diseases/Disorders

• Abnormal red blood cells

Medical terminology

• hematology

other

• each technician is assigned a specific area where they complete only a few different tasks

 I. This area of the hospital is very isolated with no patient contact. It is across from the ER and takes a double set of closed off doors to go to. It does have visitors who are consisted of mostly paramedics or EMT techs who have dropped off bodily fluids that are needed for testing for someone who has just arrived in the ER and that the nurses are wanting to quickly find out there conditions so they can triage them. All the workers have  a time limit on most tests but the most important tests are the ER patients and they are given a 30 minute time limit or it is unacceptable because these patients need to be quickly assessed to make sure there aren't any critical issues that may possibly be fatal.

II. This week I primarily worked with a lab technician who ran tests for both urine and blood. Since she doesn't have to constantly hurry to keep up with patients and charting she was able to actually sit down and show me around the area and teach me all about the blood cells and what both the normal and abnormal look like and was able to show me some of the tests that she was running. She basically gave me a run down of the basics about red blood cells and plasma.

III. After working with the general lab tech, I was given the chance to work with a biomedical lab tech who worked with the blood and urine samples that needed to be set at specific cold temperatures to test for toxicity. The room was very small. It consisted of a fridge filled with samples that needed to be tested and the toxicity machine next to another fridge that held all of the equipment necessary to test all of the samples. It is a very sterile area and all equipment is used once and disposable as to not cross contaminate.

IV.Overall I had a good experience in terms of the educational value. I learned a lot and had a teacher who was interested in teaching me all about her practice which is typically hard to come by but understandable due to the constant busyness of the typical nurse or doctor. On the other hand with my dizziness and sickness I spent a lot of the time wanting to go home and take a nap.