July 2009 - Posts

Clutter
July 31, 2009 6:04 AM by Scott Warner

Every so often a book changes your life. Way Down Cellar made reading fun, turning rainy days into great adventures. The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet inspired me to write stories, and I've been writing ever since. Time Wars made me consider Read More...

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Fast Bar Codes
July 27, 2009 7:20 AM by Scott Warner

Let's suppose your information system test database prints at least one barcode specimen label for each test. This label contains the patient name, account number, test order number, a description of the test, and the barcode itself. Now suppose a new Read More...

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Making Sense of Results
July 22, 2009 4:49 AM by Scott Warner

Whether reading a body fluid smear, a culture plate, or chemistry panel, we are paid to make sense of results. Decades of bench work teaches techs to know what is expected and to focus on the unexpected. Many of the techs working today make what is difficult Read More...

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Getting To B
July 17, 2009 6:14 AM by Scott Warner

Often, we detour on the way from A to B. We under-simplify and over-analyze to the point of exception paralysis, where contingency planning is a goal and not a means to an end. If you played the game Mouse Trap as a kid you know what I'm talking about. Read More...

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Work Smarter
July 13, 2009 6:24 AM by Scott Warner

As economic pressures increase you may hear a buzz about "productivity." Your manager or senior administrator may use benchmarking to compare your laboratory to others. And if you aren't working hard enough by the numbers, you'll hear that, too. Not working Read More...

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Safe Choices
July 8, 2009 5:58 AM by Scott Warner

The other day at a meeting about patient identification the subject of redrawing an improperly identified patient for the blood bank came up. One person thought this a terrible idea and said, "This is all about saving the patient a stick." "Actually," Read More...

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Chain of Command
July 2, 2009 7:27 AM by Scott Warner

Millennials, the youngest in our workforce, ignore the chain of command. While Boomers can't imagine work without a top-down structure, Millennials (so-called Generation Y ) reject "command" for "collaborate." I read this not with resentment but amazement Read More...

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