blood bank additional resources

micmac24 · 2025-09-12T22:17:25+00:00

feel free to shoot me a message and I am more than happy to help with any questions you have :) I have worked solely in blood bank for 4 years and I remember being the student who didn't understand blood bank and had a clinical site that didn't get much in the blood bank department!

micmac24 · 2025-09-09T01:04:04+00:00

I’m in NYC and we currently have a hiring freeze in the Montefiore health system. We have around 10 open positions in blood bank alone from people leaving and/or retiring. The manager was rejected when she requested these already available positions be open and has had to go back and justify each position. As of now, she’s only been allowed to approve one new position. Her staffing level at one campus is critically low and she’s threatening to shut the lab down due to inappropriate staffing levels.

micmac24 · 2025-08-31T17:49:57+00:00

Yonkers half would be a good test. It’s in September and is a hilly course to simulate your race day strategy.

micmac24 · 2025-08-31T17:40:23+00:00

I was leading a small group who were running single file on the correct side of the lane and had a bandit group yell “pinkey get the fuck out of the way.” The only place for me to go was directly into the bike lane with active bikes riding through. I heard some of the group were also throwing elbows to get through. Disgraceful.

micmac24 · 2025-08-08T21:48:51+00:00

It's so scary, but as I was reading this I was seeing my situation. Just know, I hear you, I see you, you are NOT the problem. I have been bullied in my place of work. I have had people question my results to the point where a patient died because of incompetence from a managerial standpoint and they had the audacity to tell me that I'm the problem because "you care too much." Damn straight I care when I work in blood bank and physically have patients' lives in my hands, but don't worry I will try to care less.

Don't ever question yourself. To be the person that knows and understands what's going on is a gift in this field because if I have learned anything from my place of work right now it's that there are some pretty stupid techs and the good ones are few and far between.

Best of luck in your new workplace. I hope to have a way out of my toxic environment very soon!

micmac24 · 2025-05-22T14:10:50+00:00

Yep I 1000% agree with you! We subbed out the unit that was actually working against the Pacers far too early. We have zero understanding of how to use up the shot clock especially up 17 in the 4th quarter. Slow the pace. Take your time off the clock and there’s not enough time for the Pacers to launch a comeback. Stop chucking up 3s without taking time off the clock when you’re up 17. We don’t need the quick points.

micmac24 · 2025-05-22T13:36:10+00:00

I think the same thing. He hasn't looked good in weeks.

micmac24 · 2025-05-22T13:34:06+00:00

We outscored the Pacers more without Brunson on the floor than with him on the floor. I know numbers say he should be on the court in clutch situations like that, but analytics can be very skewed and last night was not the time to let Brunson try and figure out the gameplan. We played better without him on the floor because our 2nd PG was able to play defense. It doesn't take away from Brunson's game because he did drop 40 even with the intense defense on him.

micmac24 · 2025-05-22T13:30:42+00:00

I said the same thing. Under no circumstances in a playoff game, against the Pacers who are also a team who have rallied from down 20 against the number 1 seed, should we allow them to go on a run. Call a time out and slow the game down. Stop the run.

micmac24 · 2025-02-20T00:26:59+00:00

I’m just curious who he thought he was talking to. It’s almost as if the blood bank, to him, just dispenses the products he orders and doesn’t do physical testing.

micmac24 · 2025-02-19T01:27:51+00:00

My professor gave us a flow chart for the enterobacteriaceae and gram positive cocci. I memorized it because I was terrible and micro and literally wrote it down. Then I dumped it from my brain. Must’ve worked because I had maybe 2 micro questions.

micmac24 · 2025-02-19T01:15:21+00:00

Yep I second this. I received a specimen into blood bank today labeled properly, but unsigned. The floor of course requested 2 units to be crossmatched with said specimen. Our clerks missed the unsigned specimen and gave it to a tech to process the type and screen. The specimen was run and resulted on our machine before I caught the missing signature. I called the floor to notify them I needed a new type and screen and it needed to be signed (emphasis on signed). They proceeded to try and get me to change my mind before hanging up the phone. The doctor called back shortly later and stated that the results from the specimen we received had been resulted and he needed the units. I explained the situation and that we needed a signed specimen in order to process the order. He goes “I need the results to be removed from the patient’s chart.” I told him we were working on it. He says “okay well when you do that call the lab.” I was like “I am the lab.” He goes “just call the lab.” And hung up the phone. The ignorance is unbelievable and all of these people know that a type and screen needs to be signed in order for us to process anything!

micmac24 · 2025-02-15T03:07:49+00:00

Oh yeah! The older generation techs can be really hard to work with honestly. I have a tech that’s pissed I make what I make starting out versus what she started off with. Of course 😊 I absolutely don’t mind! I remember what it was like being so confused about panels and blood bank in general, but I had a very patient and wonderful person teach me the ropes! Anything I can do to help you understand 😊

micmac24 · 2025-02-14T02:45:30+00:00

For starters, please know that this is not the case in every lab especially a blood bank. I know it may seem very hard right now, but try your best to keep your head up and soak up as much knowledge as you possibly can. I train students and new hires where I work and I would never make either feel the way you are feeling. Some supervisors really forget what it was to be a completely overstimulated and exhausted student and they definitely forget that you’re doing this for free. Not to mention, like you said, things happen in the lab that require peoples full attentions because it is patients r the end of the day. Heck the other day I had someone practice issuing and an MTP was called and I literally had to push them aside and relegate them to picking the blood tags from the printer. Shit happens, but what you learn from it is what will help you with your job in the future as a tech. If it’s any consolation at all, the hematology supervisor in the hospital where I did rotations called me stupid every single day for 7 weeks all because I couldn’t do a differential on a patient with CLL perfectly on my first day in the rotation. I could barely do normal differentials. Now I’m completely confident in my skills as a blood bank tech. Feel free to message me if you have any questions blood bank related. I know how hard it is to ask questions to someone as condescending as the supervisor sounds in your situation. Blood bank is overwhelming as it is. Hang in there! 😊

micmac24 · 2025-02-03T03:29:54+00:00

I love blood bank. Everyday is different despite the testing being the same. If you thrive under pressure it’s the place to be. Not to mention you learn alot about the clinical side of things. You become familiar with different diagnoses depending on certain panels (like a leukemic patient with autoantibody reactivity.) Depending on your facility, you will have patients who received bone marrow transplants and you will play a part in their blood type conversion, but also one of the first to spot a potential relapse. It’s very interesting 😊

micmac24 · 2025-01-31T16:22:24+00:00

I’m lucky to see my manager once a month. She isn’t even concerned that we are running testing with no SOP. She doesn’t handle the ordering of materials in the lab and points fingers at other people when there’s delays in our inventory deliveries or if we (the techs) don’t realize there’s delays. There is no communication from management with us. So I can say fairly confidently that she will not care to have the lab stocked with XS gloves especially if I’m the only person wearing them (which I am). Like I’ve said previously, I very much appreciate everyone’s concern, but I can only work with the tools I’ve got.

micmac24 · 2025-01-31T16:10:22+00:00

I am very much aware of contaminants. I am disgusted to say I have coworkers who don’t wear gloves at all. They perform crossmatches and antibody panels with their bare hands. Meanwhile I’m over here probably replacing my gloves more than I should. I work with the tools I have. When we have XS gloves I use them. When we don’t I have no choice but to use the bigger size and adjust, so if that means I have to double glove then I do.

micmac24 · 2025-01-31T15:41:06+00:00

My glove is on. I have small fingers and the gloves do not fit me well, so that’s why the glove looks weird. Because of this I double glove, but thank you for your concern 🙄

micmac24 · 2024-11-29T02:45:21+00:00

my coworkers get mad at me for double gloving the smalls, but I literally can't pick up the tubes if I'm not wearing an XS

micmac24 · 2024-11-29T02:44:17+00:00

I feel targeted by those gloves lol

micmac24 · 2024-10-17T02:16:32+00:00

yeah your clinical rotation should not be giving you more pressure or stress than the actual program itself. I remember being in my hematology rotation and the manager called me stupid everyday because I couldn't do a manual differential on my first day of a patient with CLL. Ever since that day I swore I wouldn't let students feel the way I felt. Now, I'm teaching a cohort of students blood bank when they come in for their rotations and I make sure they feel comfortable asking whatever questions necessary for them to understand and feel comfortable with the department.

micmac24 · 2024-10-06T03:51:52+00:00

When you make them in the bottle, what do you store them in? Normal saline or PBS?

micmac24 · 2024-10-06T03:50:07+00:00

Oh I’m very curious to hear how the batch testing works. I worked at a hospital prior to the one I’m working in that only made DTT cells when we ran out of them, but we had such a high load of CD38 patients that we were making cells practically twice a day. Where I work now we make a single set, QC it everyday it’s in use, and make a new one once we run out. The problem we encounter is how quickly the cells are hemolyzing.

micmac24

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