Medical Science Professionals
Research and advise on the safe and effective delivery of radiation as prescribed in patient care, and perform, validate and interpret the results of medical laboratory tests used in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of human diseases.
Night shift in the pathology lab
You are a medical laboratory scientist on the night shift, with a small team and a busy hospital upstairs. It is 1am. Two urgent samples have arrived from the emergency department, one of your machines is showing a warning, and the phone has just rung.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
I have a patient who is quite unwell and I am waiting on blood results. Can you tell me when I'll have them? I do not mean to rush you, but I need to decide whether to admit and I would like the answer soon.
Give her a quick time to be helpful, and then try to meet it
You say twenty minutes without checking. The machine warning delays the run, and Dr Kim waits longer than she planned for with a patient in front of her.
Check where the samples are in the queue and the state of the machines, then tell her an honest time and when you will call again
You give her a realistic time, and phone with a first result before it. Dr Kim can plan around your honest answer. A good time estimate is worth more than a fast one.
Tell her results will come when they are ready and that the lab is busy
True, but it leaves her guessing with a patient to look after. A little more detail would have made her job easier.
I am sorry to bother you. The machine has a warning light. I think it might be an old one, and it may have been showing this for ages. I did not want to stop the run for nothing. What should I do?
Tell her to ignore it, since the machine seems to be working fine and the run is nearly done
The light was a real alert about a reagent running low. A run of samples is affected and has to be repeated, losing precious time on a night when time matters.
Tell her to keep going and that you will check the warning afterwards when things are quieter
You find the warning was real, though the run was fine. Callie learns that checking can wait, and a better lesson would have been to check now.
Look at the warning together, find out what it means, and show her where to look
The warning was a reagent running low, so you replace it in a couple of minutes. Callie now knows where to look, and she speaks up more as the night goes on.
I came with my sister and nobody tells us anything. She had blood taken hours ago. Can you tell me what the result is? I am so worried, and I have been sitting here all night.
Tell her the result, since she is clearly the family and clearly anxious, and she has waited all night with no news
The result is private to the patient. Sharing it without the patient's permission breaks her trust, and also breaks the rules designed to protect it.
Explain kindly that you cannot share results, but ask a nurse to come and update the family
Aunty Rose is still worried but feels cared for, and the nurse comes out to talk with the family. Privacy and kindness do not conflict if you manage both.
Tell her the lab does not talk to families and walk away because you have work to do
You are correct, but she is left feeling dismissed. A kind word and a pointer to who can help costs almost nothing.
How it went
By 6am the urgent samples are done, the reagent is replaced and a new technician knows where to look next time. Medical laboratory scientists are the people behind the numbers doctors rely on, working carefully, often when others are asleep. Could you enjoy being a hidden part of other people's care?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: The machine that was quietly drifting
A fictional case set in the pathology laboratory of a regional hospital, running day and night.
The situation
Ibrahim was a senior scientist on the night shift in a hospital laboratory. One of the analysers had passed its morning quality check, but around 2am he noticed that its results for one test were creeping slightly higher than the results from the other machine, on the same samples. Nothing was dangerous yet and the numbers were still inside the allowed range. The ward was waiting for results, and the night supervisor said that the machine had passed and there was no point stopping it.
What they did
Ibrahim ran the control samples again and compared the two machines side by side. The drift was real, and growing. He moved the urgent samples to the second machine, told the night supervisor why, and rang the doctor on call to explain that a few results would be slightly delayed. He logged a fault with the maker and kept a clear record of which samples had been run on which machine, so they could be checked later.
How it turned out
The engineer found a worn part in the first machine the next morning. Ibrahim went through the earlier results and found none were wrong enough to change a decision, but he flagged three to the doctors to be safe. The ward had a delay of an hour, and the supervisor thanked him for acting before a problem became real.
What would you do?
- When is it right to stop a machine that is technically passing?
- How would you tell a doctor to expect a delay without alarming them?
- Why might keeping a record of which machine ran which sample matter later?