What a Histotechnician can do to Keep Peace in the Lab – Part Three
If a histotechnician’s job is standardized, it can help reduce conflict. Every histotechnician in the lab should know exactly what they are expected to do and how they are expected to do so. This way, there won’t be arguing between histotechnicians about differing workloads or processes.
Managers of histotechnicians can also have group activities outside of the work place in order to allow histotechnicians to interact on a personal level and get to know each other better. If histotechnicians see each others’ families and feel like they know each other on a more personal level, this can help lower conflict.
If a manager sees that one histotechnician is often involved with conflicts, it is important to talk to that histotechnician promptly. The manager should discuss what motivates the histotechnician to start conflicts and make sure there is no underlying problem. If no problem that can be solved is found, the histotechnician should be told that the behavior will not be tolerated and made aware of the consequences.
Conflict should always be handled when it arises, never ignored. Conflict decreases the productivity of histotechnicians and could cause errors. Conflict can also cause a histotechnician to be unhappy at work, which might be seen by those interacting with the histotechnician. Even though histotechnicians don’t speak often with patients directly, they speak to those who do speak with patients, and unhappiness can be a chain reaction. So, whether conflict is a daily occurrence, or whether it happens only occasionally between histotechnicians, managers should be ready to resolve the conflict.
Find a job as a histotechnician.
Source:
Koehler, Amanda (October 20, 2008) Controlling Conflict. Advance for Medical Laboratory Professionals. page 24-25.
What a Histotechnician can do to Keep Peace in the Lab – Part Two
Avoiding conflict entirely is also a problem. Those histotechnicians who do not want to deal with issues that could result in conflict do not deal with issues that need to be resolved. Some amount of conflict and disagreement is also necessary to come up with new ideas and personal growth for histotechnicians in the lab.
Managers of histotechnicians will probably have a tough time predicting when these conflicts might happen, or between which histotechnicians they might happen. There can be negative personal feelings between two histotechnicians that might never actually rise to the level of conflict. Or, those negative feelings between histotechnicians might come to the surface with no warning that a manager could see.
It is important to recognize that things such as small spaces and a room temperature that is too warm or too cold can affect a histotechnician’s mood, and cause conflict where there wouldn’t have been any conflict normally.
Histotechnicians should be encouraged by managers to work out issues with each other if possible, before escalating the situation by bringing in a manager. Involving a manager can create resentment which will make the relationship even worse than it was before, so it is best for histotechnicians to work with each other if possible. However, there are situations where managers should get involved right away. These situations are those which could negatively affect patient care, or those that involve intentional inappropriate behavior.
Check back soon for part three of this blog.
Find a job as a histotechnician.
Source:
Koehler, Amanda (October 20, 2008) Controlling Conflict. Advance for Medical Laboratory Professionals. page 24-25.
What a Histotechnician can do to Keep Peace in the Lab – Part One
Some amount of arguing and bickering goes on in nearly any workplace. Laboratories where histotechnicians work are no exception. Conflict if left unresolved can damage the lab environment by compromising relationships between histotechnicians and in turn causing stress on the job. Stress on the job means more turnover, and more absences. The end result of conflict will often be lower productivity. Even with perfect management, conflict between histotechnicians will probably still exist, but proper management can bring lower the level of conflict significantly.
Controlling and minimizing conflict is easier for a histotechnician when the reasons why the problems come up in the first place are understood. Often, disagreements come up between two histotechnicians and are based upon personal feelings. Reasons that two histotechnicians might harbor negative feelings for each other might include differences in religion, politics, race, mannerisms, and personalities.
Disagreements about work related things are quite common also. Histotechnicians will argue about who is doing more work or who is taking more breaks. Sometimes a histotechnicians will blame an error on another histotechnician.
Conflict is much more likely between histotechnicians when there are misunderstandings. Communication is one of the most important things histotechnicians can work on to minimize conflict. It can be so easy for two histotechnicians to have an honest misunderstanding that leads to conflict.
Check back soon for part two of this blog.
Find a job as a histotechnician.
Source:
Koehler, Amanda (October 20, 2008) Controlling Conflict. Advance for Medical Laboratory Professionals. page 24-25.
How a Histotechnologist Does a Gram Stain
The following video shows a histotechnologist doing a gram stain. This is just one type of slide preparation that a histotechnologist may use.
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Pay for Performance Pros and Cons for Histotechnicians – Part Two
So far, the argument for pay for performance sounds pretty great, doesn’t it? Pay for performance could result in increased quality in patient care and decreased costs for patient care, while facilities experience the same flow of income as before. However, as with most things there are some cons that histotechnicians might see. One negative aspect is that while the theory sounds good, the pay for performance plan is not always used as strictly as it could be. One reason for this is that facilities where histotechnicians work have a difficult time using the pay for performance system in all aspects of business. It can be hard for the facilities where histotechnicians work to get on board with the pay for performance plan in the first place, because there are barriers to entry such as the necessity to use time and money to hire employees to track the performance. Also, the equipment that is needed to track performance can be pricey, which is another reason it can be hard for some facilities to see the advantages.
Histotechnicians play a very important part in quality in lab tests. It is estimated that 40 percent of mistakes happen in the pre and post analysis process of samples. The pay for performance system could take away jobs from histotechnicians because automation of a lab could reduce errors by nearly 40 percent while simultaneously improving processing time by more than 50 percent. Facilities who study these advantages could decide to automate their systems and provide some histotechnicians of jobs.
Learn about hiring a histotechnician or learn about finding a job as a histotechnician.
Pay for Performance Pros and Cons for Histotechnicians – Part One
Because the cost of healthcare has gotten quite high there are many payers who have started to use pay for performance systems to decrease costs and improve patient care. This is done by paying those facilities who use certain proven clinical practices more to do so. Those facilities who do not stick to proven clinical practices will be paid less. One plan which is pending before Congress suggests a cut from two to five percent in the reimbursement to facilities which can be earned back in the form of a bonus if the facility meets the pay for performance standards. It is theorized that by using this system there will be less unnecessary tests ordered.
Histotechnicians and other laboratory technicians will see the effects of these pay for performance systems directly because they work in labs who actually provide the evidence about what clinical practices provide the best results.
The good things about pay for performance is that there is already research available that shows that these systems do actually improve the quality of patient care. Histotechnicians can feel more job satisfaction knowing that patients are being treated better and knowing that their tests, which are often processed by histotechnicians, will show more useful results. The facilities for whom these histotechnicians work are benefiting too, because they are being given bonuses for using the pay for performance system.
Check back soon for part two of this blog. Part two will discuss the cons of the pay for performance system and how the pay for performance system could negatively impact histotechnicians directly.
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