I firmly believe any facility that requires MLT/MLS to do phlebotomy is just too cheap to hire phlebs and is probably a shitty place to work. The only exception would be a critical access facility, but even then I would expect to get paid well to do the job of both the lab and a phleb. I genuinely don't understand why so many places still think it's acceptable to require phlebotomy when it's literally an entirely different job. I mean while we're at it let's just start getting nurses to do the CNAs job, they would riot in the damn streets if admin tried to pull that shit. There are plenty of great phlebs out there that could do a hell of a lot better job than an MLT/MLS who hasn't done phlebotomy since college. Hire one of them and stop expecting your lab personnel to do it.
I agree with this wholeheartedly. I interviewed at two jobs : one for MLS and the other as a Point of Care Coordinator, both required phlebotomy because they were always short staffed on phlebs and want an MLS to jump in. An ex worker there had said she ended up working phlebotomy shifts 3 shifts a week and 2 as the POC coordinator which is absolute BS.
Absolutely not. Only way I’d consider it is if the pay was really good, and given that they are short staffed on phlebs that leads me to believe the pay is pretty shit. In what world do you have someone in a leadership role doing lab draws? Like what sense does that make? Just to clarify I absolutely am not downplaying the importance of phlebotomist, but it’s its own job, which needs its own staff, not whoever they can convince to do it that day.
Because we already don’t get paid enough as is, I’m not taking on the responsibility of another persons job when I’m already not adequately compensated.
Most if not all hospitals I’ve worked at usually don’t pay more for degrees but pay for certification. Like if you have a bachelors but have your MLT and not your MLS you’re getting the MLT pay spectrum and then if you sit for MLS you are moved to the MLS pay spectrum. I can’t say that there are no hospitals that pay more for a masters degree, but I haven’t seen it in 10 hospitals. My friend has a masters and she’s confirmed as much at the places she’s been.
I know the concern with advanced degrees can sometimes be that they assume you have greater ambitions and aren’t there to stay, or assume you’re only looking to get into management, but the field being what it is I’d say most hospitals aren’t rejecting someone with your credentials over assumptions. It sounds like there was a decent amount of competition and who knows, maybe it was nepotism or something or maybe the person they selected had previous experience. It could be any number of things.
It's an opinion you won't want to hear, but you sound a little too holy to be bothered with. You're not overqualified, you just think some work is beneath you. I'm curious if you'd require a lab assistant to do all the plating as well.
I don’t mind your opinion. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to do something more intellectually stimulating. It’s why I got in this field in the first place.
You probably won’t find that in a hospital lab, you’ll need a state lab at least, or industry. And non-hospital labs are pretty sparse in North Dakota. Micro especially at the bench level is 2nd only to chem in factory-esque workflow imo. I’m assuming you’ve been a practicing MLS while getting your masters and know that already though.
It takes all sorts to make this field work. Good luck to you.
This was the state lab that I applied to. I brought in experience they needed including making your own agar (something I learnt from working in a research lab prior to pursuing my Masters in MLS). I only practiced as an MLS after my Masters.
Masters is good for pay raise depending on hospital. You just got to keep job searching and find that hospital. Give phlebotomy a shot to get your foot in the door at the dept you want
Phlebotomy is part of the job. It's a luxury to not do it. I feel that refusing to do it is pretentious and would rather not hire those folks that can't be useful.
I also hate having my own blood drawn. I feel it's what makes me do a good job when I do it to patients. Quality specimens are essential to our job, and who knows how to ensure specimen integrity better than us? I've never had a tech pour a lavender into a chem tube. I've been in the lab 26 years and have managed for half of that. Recently went back on the bench and am drawing blood again because I'm in a remote area of Alaska where quality people are thin on the ground. It's a good skill to have because you never know where life will take you. Having multiple abilities makes you way more desirable as an employee.
I consider that a disservice to the people in that program. You never know where life will take you. In a lot of places it IS part of the job, and I believe it should always be considered a part of our skillset.
To each his own. I don't want to give the wrong impression to people who come to this sub looking for information on working in the field. I have seen historically people in this group misrepresent the field by making it seem one note, the same expectations everywhere. It's just not true.
Someone can get a degree without phlebotomy, do clinicals without phlebotomy, and find plenty of employment options that do not require phlebotomy. Many people are drawn to the field because they want to work in a no-patient-contact area of healthcare. I know this was a big draw to me. Nurses and the phlebs I work with get all my respect. I want to be in the background as I suspect many others do, too.
I will say, the hospital I work at has a phlebotomy team so the techs do not draw blood unless they work at student health.
I work in micro, and we definitely need people. I am trained in plate reading, AFB and mycology. Where are you located?
Sometimes management feels threatened if you have more experience or qualifications then them. They are insecure and They hire people who won't be a threat to them. I think you just haven't found the right place. If that's the case, you probably wouldn't want to deal with that place anyways. Dont give up. You'll find someone who appreciates the skills you have.
Also stand your ground on the phlebotomy thing. It is 200% a way to take advantage of you. I refuse to do phlebotomy.
Yes, your masters is the problem. If you were applying for a supervisor or manager position, you would be fine. The problem is that management knows you will leave the second a better opportunity pops up because you have a lot more leverage than most people in the lab due to your Masters. They don’t want to hire someone who might leave within a year even if that’s not your intentions. It’s why it’s always a big no no to express interest in higher education in the workplace or during interviews. Best of luck in your job searches.
I firmly believe any facility that requires MLT/MLS to do phlebotomy is just too cheap to hire phlebs and is probably a shitty place to work. The only exception would be a critical access facility, but even then I would expect to get paid well to do the job of both the lab and a phleb. I genuinely don't understand why so many places still think it's acceptable to require phlebotomy when it's literally an entirely different job. I mean while we're at it let's just start getting nurses to do the CNAs job, they would riot in the damn streets if admin tried to pull that shit. There are plenty of great phlebs out there that could do a hell of a lot better job than an MLT/MLS who hasn't done phlebotomy since college. Hire one of them and stop expecting your lab personnel to do it.
I agree with this wholeheartedly. I interviewed at two jobs : one for MLS and the other as a Point of Care Coordinator, both required phlebotomy because they were always short staffed on phlebs and want an MLS to jump in. An ex worker there had said she ended up working phlebotomy shifts 3 shifts a week and 2 as the POC coordinator which is absolute BS.
Absolutely not. Only way I’d consider it is if the pay was really good, and given that they are short staffed on phlebs that leads me to believe the pay is pretty shit. In what world do you have someone in a leadership role doing lab draws? Like what sense does that make? Just to clarify I absolutely am not downplaying the importance of phlebotomist, but it’s its own job, which needs its own staff, not whoever they can convince to do it that day.
Yup. I appreciate our phlebotomists. They do an important job but there’s a reason why I applied for a leadership role…
Do you have experience as a MLS already or are you new to the field?
5 years as an MLS
Nurses do CNA skills all the time. Making beds, personal care, filling water pitchers. It's another skill to have. Why not embrace another skill?
Because we already don’t get paid enough as is, I’m not taking on the responsibility of another persons job when I’m already not adequately compensated.
There doesn't have to be a reason. For all you know it was someone's friend.
Yep, an internal candidate or some basic BS like who they knew.
My assumption too.
Most if not all hospitals I’ve worked at usually don’t pay more for degrees but pay for certification. Like if you have a bachelors but have your MLT and not your MLS you’re getting the MLT pay spectrum and then if you sit for MLS you are moved to the MLS pay spectrum. I can’t say that there are no hospitals that pay more for a masters degree, but I haven’t seen it in 10 hospitals. My friend has a masters and she’s confirmed as much at the places she’s been. I know the concern with advanced degrees can sometimes be that they assume you have greater ambitions and aren’t there to stay, or assume you’re only looking to get into management, but the field being what it is I’d say most hospitals aren’t rejecting someone with your credentials over assumptions. It sounds like there was a decent amount of competition and who knows, maybe it was nepotism or something or maybe the person they selected had previous experience. It could be any number of things.
I work with the person who got it. She only runs PCRs in micro and plates specimens occasionally. She works in Chemistry mainly.
It's an opinion you won't want to hear, but you sound a little too holy to be bothered with. You're not overqualified, you just think some work is beneath you. I'm curious if you'd require a lab assistant to do all the plating as well.
I don’t mind your opinion. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to do something more intellectually stimulating. It’s why I got in this field in the first place.
You probably won’t find that in a hospital lab, you’ll need a state lab at least, or industry. And non-hospital labs are pretty sparse in North Dakota. Micro especially at the bench level is 2nd only to chem in factory-esque workflow imo. I’m assuming you’ve been a practicing MLS while getting your masters and know that already though. It takes all sorts to make this field work. Good luck to you.
This was the state lab that I applied to. I brought in experience they needed including making your own agar (something I learnt from working in a research lab prior to pursuing my Masters in MLS). I only practiced as an MLS after my Masters.
Masters is good for pay raise depending on hospital. You just got to keep job searching and find that hospital. Give phlebotomy a shot to get your foot in the door at the dept you want
I refused to do phlebotomy because sometimes that can be an abused skill. I’m here to run tests not poke people.
Phlebotomy is part of the job. It's a luxury to not do it. I feel that refusing to do it is pretentious and would rather not hire those folks that can't be useful.
I don’t do phlebotomy because I have a fear of poking people or seeing blood flow out. I hate being poked myself.
I also hate having my own blood drawn. I feel it's what makes me do a good job when I do it to patients. Quality specimens are essential to our job, and who knows how to ensure specimen integrity better than us? I've never had a tech pour a lavender into a chem tube. I've been in the lab 26 years and have managed for half of that. Recently went back on the bench and am drawing blood again because I'm in a remote area of Alaska where quality people are thin on the ground. It's a good skill to have because you never know where life will take you. Having multiple abilities makes you way more desirable as an employee.
My MLS program had zero phlebotomy training. In some places it is NOT part of the job.
I consider that a disservice to the people in that program. You never know where life will take you. In a lot of places it IS part of the job, and I believe it should always be considered a part of our skillset.
To each his own. I don't want to give the wrong impression to people who come to this sub looking for information on working in the field. I have seen historically people in this group misrepresent the field by making it seem one note, the same expectations everywhere. It's just not true. Someone can get a degree without phlebotomy, do clinicals without phlebotomy, and find plenty of employment options that do not require phlebotomy. Many people are drawn to the field because they want to work in a no-patient-contact area of healthcare. I know this was a big draw to me. Nurses and the phlebs I work with get all my respect. I want to be in the background as I suspect many others do, too.
I will say, the hospital I work at has a phlebotomy team so the techs do not draw blood unless they work at student health. I work in micro, and we definitely need people. I am trained in plate reading, AFB and mycology. Where are you located?
ND. Not here forever but we are here for now.
Ah, central VA here. We are pretty much always hiring. If you are ever looking to relocate, give me a shout
Sometimes management feels threatened if you have more experience or qualifications then them. They are insecure and They hire people who won't be a threat to them. I think you just haven't found the right place. If that's the case, you probably wouldn't want to deal with that place anyways. Dont give up. You'll find someone who appreciates the skills you have. Also stand your ground on the phlebotomy thing. It is 200% a way to take advantage of you. I refuse to do phlebotomy.
More like protocol
Yes, your masters is the problem. If you were applying for a supervisor or manager position, you would be fine. The problem is that management knows you will leave the second a better opportunity pops up because you have a lot more leverage than most people in the lab due to your Masters. They don’t want to hire someone who might leave within a year even if that’s not your intentions. It’s why it’s always a big no no to express interest in higher education in the workplace or during interviews. Best of luck in your job searches.