Hey everyone! My name is Nikki and I have recently been hired in the Blood Bank laboratory of a large city hospital. I will be starting in a few days.

Some background on myself: I graduated in 2005 with an AS in Clinical Laboratory Technology. After I graduated I took a job in Quality Assurance and for the past 6 years I have been working at that job for a non profit organization (not a lab environment). I decided I wanted to find a job in a lab, applied, and got the interview for Blood Bank Technician. I was honest and said I did not have any recent lab experience and I am not certified. They decided to hire me despite these things and I start next week!

My question: how difficult is it going to be for me to learn the blood bank functions since it has been so long since I learned Blood Bank in college?? I will not be doing patient testing but things like Irradiating blood, fulfilling orders for blood, delivering blood to the OR, etc. Any advice for me?? Any recommendations on websites I can go to to review the basics?

I am super excited about this opportunity but very nervous!

Thanks for listening and for any information you can provide me

Nikki

Congrats, Nikki, on your new job. You will find the Blood Bank to be an exciting place to work. Show up every day ready to learn, ask a lot of questions. There are some great resources on this website which would be a good review. Keep checking back here...I learn something new every time I show up here, and I've been in the Blood Bank for 24 or so years.

Thank you for your encouragement Terri! I plan to carry a small notebook with me during training so I can make notes and keep them to review/refer to.

Welcome to the site _Nikki_.

A tip from a trainer

It's better practice to refer to SOPs when you get stuck rather then your own notes. It's easy to get things 'back to front' when writing them down the first time you see it). If you follow the SOP you are doing it the way it is meant to be done. If you follow your own notes and you make a mistake you could be disciplined for not following the SOP.

Example - someone I trained took down the dilutions incorrectly for neonatal grouping and effectivly wasn't doing a DAT at all for about 3 months. Luckily I did a review after 3 months to check how he was doing and picked this up. Unfortunately it meant that a lot of babies had to be recalled and bled uneccessarily The chap was convinced he was doing it correctly as he was folowing his notes - unfortunately his notes were wrong...

But enough of the alarm stories! You'll love your job 99% of the time it's a dull as dishwater but that 1% of the time is buzzing!

Welcome to Pathlabtalk.

Congrats on your BB position . . .

Welcome to blood bank and this site. Don't fret too much about learning your new job responsibilities; every lab has a training program and I'm sure they'll do a good job training you. Aunti-D's point is very well taken, keep refering to your department's SOPs and see how you really should be doing it! If you want to do a thorough review, see what texts your lab has (Denise Harmening's "Modern Blood Banking and Transfusion Practices" is used by many Med Tech schools). The AABB Technical Manual is the gold standard reference book. A little light reading for a cold winter evening. ............Good luck. Phil

My question: how difficult is it going to be for me to learn the blood bank functions since it has been so long since I learned Blood Bank in college?? I will not be doing patient testing but things like Irradiating blood, fulfilling orders for blood, delivering blood to the OR, etc. Any advice for me?? Any recommendations on websites I can go to to review the basics?

I am super excited about this opportunity but very nervous!

Thanks for listening and for any information you can provide me

Nikki

First off Congratulations. Secondly, I spent approximately 20 years NOT in a blood bank setting but everything else, 3 years in a drug lab, several years in clinics, 6 years as a bench tech in a hematology reference lab, etc., long and short it is never too late to learn a new trade.

I agree with aunti d. Always refer to the SOPs. Good luck with your new job

Blood Bank is the fun place - I don't care what the rest of the lab says!

Congratulations on your new job, and welcome to PathLabTalk. I think you will find this site very helpful.

We have an individual who does many of the tasks you listed, but she doesn't have a degree. However, she is super-sharp, asks questions, listens & picks up things by osmosis, volunteers to do anything within her scope to help us do our jobs better, and is a tremendous asset to our department. (So my tip is: ask questions, pay attention and listen and learn what's going on, volunteer to help others, learn new things, and accept criticism with the understanding that others are trying to help you do your job properly.)

and accept criticism with the understanding that others are trying to help you do your job properly.)

So true. NOBODY, however experienced and knowledgable they may be, is above criticism (because nobody is perfect) and, as long as the criticism is constructive, it can make all the difference to your (and my!) carrer and knowledge.

Welcome to the site, you will find lots of useful information here. Good luck with your new position. Keep your eyes, ears and most importantly your mind open. Any problems/questions you come across post here and we'll be glad to help you out.

Thank you all for your advice! I have completed my orientation today and will be starting in the lab tomorrow for training. I will take all of what was said here and apply that advice to my new job as I learn. I am happy to hear that some of you started in the blood bank after experience in other labs and were able to learn BB.

Thank you again. I feel a little less nervous in starting tomorrow!

Strangely enough, when I first went into blood transfusion, I wasn't at all nervous - but the patients were absolutely petrified!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, get out of here, Malcolm!!!

Oh, get out of here, Malcolm!!!

Tee Hee!!!!!!!!!!!!

:rofl::rofl:

We trust that Malcolm hasn't hastened the departure of too many patients over the years. But that's why we make difficult patients ourselves; we know all too well what goes on behind the scenes - and why we never go to our own hospitals!