Letters to the Editor
PharmD Candidate
Longmont, COOops! Sorry, Renee
Readers respond
Educated, underpaid, ignoredI am sure this will be one of many comments you will field regarding the salary survey article in the March 2003 issue of MLO. I cant begin to tell you how saddened, but not surprised, I was to see that the median salary for the job function of medical technologist was less than $200 more than the median salary with a high school education. Having an associates and two bachelors degrees (all three in science), I was interested to see that your article supports the fact that most medical technologists are underpaid for their level of education. I love working in the lab, but the years of being underpaid and ignored professionally have taken their toll. I have applied and interviewed for acceptance to pharmacy school this fall. While I will always be a lab tech at heart, the mental wear and tear associated with the off-bench issues: time off, scheduling, expected attendance at day meetings (I work graveyard by choice) not to mention being ignored as a needed profession within the hospital have turned me off to the laboratory profession. Jeri Sandbach, MT(ASCP), CLS(NCA)PharmD Candidate
Longmont, COOops! Sorry, Renee
You told me to keep reading MLO, so I have been! And I found what I am pretty sure is an error in spelling. See the March 2003 issue, p. 22: Zellweger (as in Rene) is spelled incorrectly at least twice in one paragraph. Leon A. Saryan, PhD
ACL Industrial Toxicology LaboratoryAuthors reply:Dr. Saryan is exactly right: We misspelled Renee Zellwegers first and last names in our March issue, just before she was slated to appear at the Academy Awards ceremony. We relied on an Internet source that obviously was incorrect. The correct spelling as documented in the credits for her spectacular performance in Chicago is listed as Renee (with two es at the end) and Zellweger (two ls and one g). We apologize to Miss Zellwegers many fans for this faux pas, and thank Dr. Saryan, one of our fans, for bringing the error to our attention. Carren Bersch
MLOIn a perfect worldIn response to the letter in March 2003 MLO, under the heading More Education Needed, the reader was talking about the impossibility of disposing of needle holders. It is not a personal or facility decision anymore. OSHA law dictates the provision of one holder, one patient.Her facility might consider using a larger sharps container at the nurses station or some kind of centralized drop-off site for used needle holders. Its not a matter of cross contamination with the specimen. Rather, it is there to protect the phlebotomist from potential exposure to the secondary needle; therefore, her best course of action would be to come up with some type of protocol for the disposal of needle holders before OSHA or any other kind of safety inspection takes place.The reader also talked about the problem with butterflies. She makes a good point about more education being needed. She should educate the phlebotomists about checking their junction between the tube and the lunar adapter. The reason for the adapter is in case you need to attach a syringe to the end of the butterfly for weaker veins that cant hold up to the suction of the
vacutainer.To address her last comment that nobody should get cut with a glass tube she is right. In a perfect world, no one would get stuck, and we would all live happily ever after, but the tragic truth of the matter is we are all susceptible to accidents and mistakes. Until that changes, we need to keep the work place as safe as we can, and that means not trying to remove needles from hubs and making sure all safety devices have been engaged upon completion of
venipuncture. Jeffery Silvas, RPT (AMT)
Phlebotomist
VA Central California
Fresno, CASoldiers in a different
kind of war
ACL Industrial Toxicology LaboratoryAuthors reply:Dr. Saryan is exactly right: We misspelled Renee Zellwegers first and last names in our March issue, just before she was slated to appear at the Academy Awards ceremony. We relied on an Internet source that obviously was incorrect. The correct spelling as documented in the credits for her spectacular performance in Chicago is listed as Renee (with two es at the end) and Zellweger (two ls and one g). We apologize to Miss Zellwegers many fans for this faux pas, and thank Dr. Saryan, one of our fans, for bringing the error to our attention. Carren Bersch
MLOIn a perfect worldIn response to the letter in March 2003 MLO, under the heading More Education Needed, the reader was talking about the impossibility of disposing of needle holders. It is not a personal or facility decision anymore. OSHA law dictates the provision of one holder, one patient.Her facility might consider using a larger sharps container at the nurses station or some kind of centralized drop-off site for used needle holders. Its not a matter of cross contamination with the specimen. Rather, it is there to protect the phlebotomist from potential exposure to the secondary needle; therefore, her best course of action would be to come up with some type of protocol for the disposal of needle holders before OSHA or any other kind of safety inspection takes place.The reader also talked about the problem with butterflies. She makes a good point about more education being needed. She should educate the phlebotomists about checking their junction between the tube and the lunar adapter. The reason for the adapter is in case you need to attach a syringe to the end of the butterfly for weaker veins that cant hold up to the suction of the
vacutainer.To address her last comment that nobody should get cut with a glass tube she is right. In a perfect world, no one would get stuck, and we would all live happily ever after, but the tragic truth of the matter is we are all susceptible to accidents and mistakes. Until that changes, we need to keep the work place as safe as we can, and that means not trying to remove needles from hubs and making sure all safety devices have been engaged upon completion of
venipuncture. Jeffery Silvas, RPT (AMT)
Phlebotomist
VA Central California
Fresno, CASoldiers in a different
kind of war
Your letter [p. 4] in the April [2003] edition of MLO moved me. It has been some time since I read the words of a colleague, concerning our mission as professionals, whereby a sense of pride was espoused. Our mission is vital. Our mission is worthwhile. Our mission is worth a higher profile than is provided by our daily mainstream media. Thank you for allowing me to feel that pride and sense of importance once again. It has been a long time. Thank you. Thomas Lash, BS, CLS, MT(ASCP)
Community Education Coordinator
American Red Cross Blood Services
Southern California Region© 2003 Nelson Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.
Community Education Coordinator
American Red Cross Blood Services
Southern California Region© 2003 Nelson Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.
