Volume 40 Number 5 | October 2026
Summary
In this article, Tonya Shearin-Patterson highlights the unique burnout risks facing medical laboratory professionals, from staffing shortages and heavy workloads to personal caregiving responsibilities and grief. Drawing from her own experience, she emphasizes the importance of self-care, seeking support, counseling when needed, and proactively protecting mental health to sustain both personal wellbeing and professional effectiveness.
Tonya Shearin-Patterson, MCH, MLS(ASCP), Volunteer Contributor
There has been much discussion and research on the topic of burnout in the helping professions, including but not limited to medicine, nursing, counseling, and social work. Unfortunately, while medical laboratory scientists (MLSs) and medical laboratory technicians (MLTs) are part of the healthcare team, we are often excluded from these discussions. We are not considered members of the helping professions, and we do not have direct patient contact, but we do have unique issues that can contribute significantly to burnout and fatigue among medical laboratory professionals.
Good mental health is essential to overall wellbeing whether we are on the bench, serving in administration or management, or as faculty in higher education. It is important to remember to take some practical steps and some periodic self-checks to ensure we are not slipping into burnout.
Staffing and workload demand, working overtime, and lack of appropriate compensation for the work we do can cause stress. We still need to function while we may feel as though we don’t have the mental stamina or energy to keep up with the demands. Daily workflow issues can also bring pressure throughout the workday including protocols, staffing, training, and maintaining quality control and equipment. Let’s not forget extenuating circumstances like COVID-19 or even more practical issues like equipment downtimes or failures.
“For me, talking with a counselor helped to put things in perspective and get back on track.”
The ubiquitous concerns of family, fatigue, health issues, the political climate, finances, and caregiving can compound the issue of burnout as some of us may feel the constant need to keep it all together, manage it well, or fix it, whatever “it” is. This can all feel unbearable at times, but before everything becomes too much to bear, there are some practical things we can do to relieve the pressure. Please note, these are familiar but not an exhaustive list of suggestions.
- It is okay to not be okay. Something as simple as stepping away from the bench, the troubleshooting, the desk, or the office can quiet some of the “noise” we may be hearing in our minds. In other words, take a break.
- Breathe. Slow deep breaths can make you concentrate on your breathing and distract you from the stress in the present moment.
- Find something that brings you joy. Taking a walk or a dance class, painting, or going to the gym can bring some balance to the multitude of stressful tasks we have to perform in a particular season. I have witnessed in my own life and in the lives of others that when we are emotionally or mentally overwhelmed, we stop doing the things that make us happy. We should try to include ourselves in our busy schedules.
- Talk. Talk to a friend, a close coworker, or family member. You may not be the only one who is feeling what you are feeling. Take advantage of workplace resources for work life balance.
- Prayer or meditation. These can quiet your mind, so you are focusing on just one thing at a time.
- Ask for help. Once we have tried all we can and still feel depressed, sad, or burnt out, seeking a counselor or professional can help to process the current circumstances and provide other tools for healthy mental health.
I was working full time as faculty in a clinical laboratory science program and per diem in a hospital network core lab in microbiology. I became part-time care giver for my mother whose heart failure had advanced, my husband who was beginning heart failure, and my father who was diagnosed with cardiovascular dementia. My outlets were dance and powerwalking.
When my mother passed, I quickly became a part-time care giver for my father as well. Along came menopause, changing administration, and multiple changes at my institution. I suffered a back injury while working and soon realized I could no longer work in the clinical laboratory, and for a time I couldn’t dance or power-walk.
I slowly became exhausted, isolated, and uninterested in going out when I didn’t have to. Home felt like my safe place and a cave. All the things I knew to do brought some benefit but not as much as they once did. I prayed and meditated, breathed deeply, and tried desperately to motivate myself.
After sharing with my family, I decided it was time to reach out to a counselor. She shared with me that I had “complicated grief”—not in the traditional sense because I was moving through the grieving process, but I was grieving many things at the same time which caused me to lose my identity. For me, talking with a counselor helped to put things in perspective and get back on track.
Our work is demanding at times, as well as important, unique, and essential. Our mental health is important and essential. We must nurture it, protect it, and preserve it. Many lives depend on it with the most important of all being ourselves.
Tonya Shearin-Patterson is an Assistant Professor in the Clinical Laboratory Science Program at York College, CUNY in Jamaica, New York.