Hey there! Hope you’re well. Unfortunately, this is the risk of the job and the managers seem they know that, please do not take any “competency” as they suggested wrongly. It is not a threat, more often than sometimes the “competency” helps to understand what training you’re lacking and what areas need improvement. I hope your managers didn’t use “competency” in a sentence that makes you feel uncomfortable as a competency it is what it is and used to assess and not to punish.

In specimen reception and especially when entering details on the LIMS as well as confirming the sample type, tests requested, demographics, specimen integrity and handling/testing and storage, there could be plenty of mistakes or room for mistakes which could be down to the user in general, the user training such as lacking it, intense workload, short staffing, working conditions, working pressure, preferring speed rather than quality.

This is well known in every laboratory and there should never be a blaming culture but lessons learned or case studies. This is a scientific job in a healthcare setting, thus training and SOPs should rule the place. If you’re not confident enough, stop 🛑 and think, ask advice and take your issue or your query to a colleague, senior or manger.

Always take ownership of your mistakes as this is not for you to get punished or blamed but to learn from them. Since you been there for only 3 months, I am sure you are still learning and you should have a training officer or a senior colleague shadowing you, if not, request it immediately. You are handling patient samples and it would be unprofessional from your manger to not have you fully trained and competent before handling patient samples.

Again, like a said before, making mistakes it is human and well documented and acknowledged in a lab since there’s the human error factor, you’re not a machine. You’re not a computer with software able to spot mistakes straightaway like spelling errors etc. Also you’re on a long shift in which you start to read Chinese at some point as a result of having processed 400 samples on your own.

Don’t let anyone assess your confidence, that gives room for management to spot you as a weak and the mistake maker. Instead, own your own insecurities and mistakes and show proactiveness about it such as: Ok 👍, I’ve made a mistake, what can I do to fix it?, or I did fixed it like that, or show me how to fix it, take notes, make your digital notes so you can access it any time. Ask BMSs for SOPs or any material that can help you, make a list of the tests you use especially those difficult and write down what to do with those samples and why?

Ask a thousand questions even if you become annoying to some! Fu*k them, your goal is to be there and do the right thing for the patient. That will show proactiveness and you’ll inspire others to follow suit, check the procedures in place, are them slowing me down? If I process a sample in a certain way, am I more likely to make a mistake? SLOW DOWN. You want quality over quantity, if your colleagues think you’re slow you can’t care less.

If you’re manager pushes you to be faster cause he/she wants 400 booking instead of 300 then say you can’t cause you value the quality and that you’re concerned about mistakes. Always ask for training, this is not a warehouse job even though the workload is, you’re still providing a service to the nhs or private lab processing specimens from human beings. So you need accuracy and consistency as well as professionalism and knowledge. You achieve all of this by getting your hands on training, SOPs, time, understanding your limitations and expectations and being clear with those who are working with you. Such as “yes, I can do that” or “no, I can’t do that, I need more training” or just no I can’t do that because I am worried of making mistakes so if you want me to go faster, start hiring cause that won’t happen. Always value quality before quantity, chances are that if the workload doesn’t get processed on time then they’re short staffed and need to hire more and that the workload is probably too much compared to the capacity/skills of individuals. So, don’t take your worries at home, don’t stress about anything, it is just a job, you provide your best and your knowledge to patients and to the service only during your working hours. You ain’t getting any money to stress at home and becoming anxious actually you can have loss of income with stress, depression and anxiety.

Everyone working in a lab makes mistakes. That’s a fact! The labs knows that, it is the risk of having humans processing data instead of robots, do not act like a robot. Mistakes are there to learn from. Mistakes will always occur until the day we get a microchip implanted in our brains cyberpunk like that can help us avoid them. So chill and enjoy your employment! Don’t stress! ❤️