CNBC.com recently publicized CareerCast’s lists of Least and Most Stressful Jobs for 2013 (click here to view the least stressful).
Medical laboratory technician landed on the “least stressful” list, along with occupations like seamstress/tailor, jeweler, and hairstylist. You read that right.
CareerCast’s publisher, in an accompanying interview, says autonomy is a key factor in “less stress,” and also, not having the job put the worker in a life-or-death situation.
Neither the compilers of the lists nor the CNBC reporter questioned CareerCast’s job description: “Medical lab technicians work in an environment conducive to productivity, largely free from distraction to analyze samples. By working out of the public eye, technicians can focus on helping the physicians they serve at their own pace.”
If you’re thinking there’s some mistake, you’re not alone: A blitz of commentators are helping set CareerCast straight, pointing out such occupational stressors as the life-and-death consequences for patients who depend on fast, accurate results; dealing with instruments that go down; TAT monitored for each shift in hospitals/disciplinary action for not meeting times; routine exposure to pathogens in patient samples such as HIV, hepatitis, and influenza; limited chances for advancement; downsizing, understaffing/fewer techs doing more work; STAT lab blood bank demands, and more.
Sure, there’s lots of stress for police officers, firefighters, and soldiers. But while bullets aren’t whizzing past the heads of medical lab technicians, sometimes it sure feels like they are.
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I’m so often focused on the mechanics of helping you improve patient care (finding the newest assays and instruments, technology) that I forget to think about the people in the lab who are faced with using that technology.
A brilliant blog post by Christine Snozek, PhD, DABCC, FACB, connects the dots between technologist and technology. Snozek lobbies for thoughtful lines of communication as new technologies are phased into the clinical lab. She considers the individuals working in the lab, their experience, attitudes, and learning styles, urging a fresh approach that sets assumptions about people aside to achieve maximum results in adoption of new ways of doing things. She acknowledges the pain that may come from having to do things a new way, and encourages open dialogue about what’s behind the need for change, and a post-adoption debriefing.
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In CLP‘s March issue we bring you ASCP’s initial five tests physicians and patients should question—for the Choosing Wisely initiative. The article is found here.
Do you agree or disagree with their choices?
Judy O’Rourke
Editor, CLP
[email protected], (619) 659-1065
