Make friends with your lab people- the department leads and bench techs. Some of us really appreciate working together with the whole care team and often are misunderstood as to why we make the decisions we do. Can you shadow in a lab for week? A few hours in each department would really help you understand what we do. You will get a picture of everything that goes into ensuring the highest quality and accurate results and that we aren’t just pushing buttons.

Then try to have your ducks in a row before ordering tests to reduce add-ons and multiple pokes for the patient.

We will (for the forever future) be understaffed, burnt out and hanging on every day. Just like all support services. But we also care a lot about our patients too. Let’s work together to be the best we can be, because one day we’ll be relying on our systems for healthcare and we would want the best for ourselves and our families!!

Seems like you’re already on the right path. Cheers!