Volume 38 Number 5 | October 2024

Tips, Tricks, and Helpful Antidotes to Prevent Burnout in the Medical Laboratory

Carly Preston, MLS(ASCP)CM, ASCLS Today Volunteer Contributor

Carly PrestonI will never forget a day in 2017 when I went on break during my first shift at a new hospital, and as I am rounding the corner of the lockers, a middle-aged blond lady almost runs into me. After I say excuse me, she waves at me and says, “Hi, I’m Kathy! I’m tired and burnt out, hope you’re doing better than me.” I was still a new medical laboratory professional at the time and had just moved to Alabama from South Dakota. I didn’t know whether to cringe or laugh at her introduction.

Although several years have passed and we have now survived a pandemic, that introduction has always stuck with me. I now understand the wry humor that was supposed to go with that statement, and I also understand the biting truth behind it. In a post-pandemic setting, when the workforce is even lower than the projections that were being rattled off to me at school 10 years ago, burnout and fatigue are something almost every medical laboratory science professional goes through, whether only for a short period due to staff temporarily being out, or long-term due to chronic staffing issue. (P.S. Here’s looking at you, management, because chronic staffing issues are usually a reflection of the environment or leadership issues that need to be resolved.) Below are some various ways to help prevent and mitigate burnout that can be used by management and employees alike.

“No one knows if someone is feeling overwhelmed or burnt out if it’s not directly communicated.”

Creative Scheduling

I am a manager, and although I wish I could give all my medical laboratory professionals large raises, that is not in the budget. However, one of the other things I can do is what I call creative scheduling. I have several single moms who work for me; they alternate around whose kids have activities and appointments, etc. Often, they do not get a whole day off, but one to three hours when there is an appointment, and I cover the bench while they are out. They are often happier that they don’t have to take an entire PTO day most of the time for things such as the dentist, doctor, etc. And since it is done for every employee in the department, it incentivizes them to work as a team and cover for each other.

Breather Moments

At any time, the medical laboratory staff can say, “Hey, I’m taking my breather moment.” This is outside of their “scheduled breaks” and looks different for each of them. It’s a small break to take a reset, usually due to a not-so-great interaction with another department or staff member. For me, this means I need an uninterrupted five to 10 minutes to make a coffee and do some breathing exercises. For another medical laboratory professional, it means she’s going to sit on the patio and soak in the sun for a few minutes. It is a polite way of communicating with each other that we are stressed and need a moment. It has greatly reduced the amount of “shade” or “snide comments” that get thrown around by the medical laboratory professionals because they have had a moment to calm back down with zero consequences or recourse from anyone around them.

Meditation

Keeping the mind centered, calm, and stress free helps not only ourselves feel better, but it allows us to have better interactions with those around us. There are many ways to meditate, from sound, to breathing; one of the favorite ways in our laboratory is to practice chocolate meditation. Go ahead and search for it—it is a real thing. A bowl of everyone’s favorite chocolate sits in the break room, and on Mondays and Thursdays after our big rush we have a five-minute chocolate meditation. It may seem silly, but it absolutely helps.

“One for you, one for me, one for them”

This is a saying meant for the medical laboratory professional to reflect on at the start of their shift. What is one thing I can accomplish at work today that will help out my co-worker? Whether that is the person coming on shift after me or someone who you are working with right now. One for me is, what is one thing I can accomplish at work today that will make me feel better to have off my plate or to have accomplished? One for them is an open slate for someone at work to ask me to do one extra thing to help them out. Could be something from or for another department, the manager, or something for a patient that isn’t normally in the day-to-day duties. Everyone on the team practices this every day so no one person is constantly overwhelmed with extra projects or tasks.

Those are some of the more detailed ways in my current clinical laboratory setting that we fight burnout, and you will notice a common theme in most of them—communication. No one knows if someone is feeling overwhelmed or burnt out if it’s not directly communicated. Also remember, by being self-aware of your own feelings, you can communicate the approaching burnout so that something can be done about it before the boiling point is reached and you take it out on the new employee in the break room. A few additional ideas and antidotes can also be found below.

  • PTO: It is meant to be used when you need a break, and if you need a break, don’t be afraid to use it.
  • Pump up Sessions: When coming into work, rock a favorite playlist on the way in to set the mood for starting the shift.
  • Meme Monday: On Mondays share funny lab memes in a group thread to bring some smiles and lightheartedness in on the first day.
  • Plant Shelf: We all know most labs are windowless corners of the hospital, so bring succulents, flowers, etc., into a designated area to help staff ground themselves with something beautiful.

Carly Preston is the Director of Laboratory Services at Caldwell Memorial Hospital in Columbia, Louisiana.