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I just answered this question. My Score PASS  

With the COVID pandemic, my institution demoted me and resulted in a significant pay cut. I decided to leave and go where I feel welcomed and valued for my 30+ years of experience in BB and as a generalist, LIS and manager. I have been on call, even during my vacations for over 5 years, coming in the middle of the night, holidays and weekends. I am leaving a no one is trained to do elutions, Ob titers, Dara protocol and master log review. I feel bad, but administration seems to realize nor care that I am just leaving an empty opening in the schedule! I have read all the previous postings from 2018, and the shortage and lack of recognition of our profession keeps getting worst!

The patients should be genuflecting to the FDA inspectors. I know I would were I a patient who required a transfusion!

We have dedicated blood bankers on each shift. This was suggested to us by an FDA inspector. We supplement with generalists on evenings and nights.

Staffing in NYS labs right now is reaching catastrophic levels. Can't even find generalists.

Whether you call yourselves Lean (or Six Sigma or some other facetious productivity name) or not, the reality for many labs these days is that generalists are more and more necessary to keep things going in light of personnel shortages, We are a 250 bed level 2 trauma hospital, with a fair amount of Lab work on the type of patient population we see, including BB. The only real "dedicated" techs we have are in Micro (and of course, Histology). About a quarter of the techs on first shift are generalists that can work on a regular basis in BB (in addition to the main Lab area). On second and third shift, virtually all of the techs work BB in addition to the main lab area. Whether one has BB with all dedicated staff or no, the key is to have adequate training and competency, along with extensive references, including having good P&Ps available. This is true for all areas of the Lab (and in health care in general!). It requires a sharp and dedicated management model and staff. Scott