| St.
Mary's Medical Lab: The results matter!
“Lab work is integral in diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring,” says Colleen Bennett, Lab Manager at St. Mary’s Hospital in Cottonwood. 
“For example, if the physician suspects an infection they will submit a
sample to the laboratory where the organism is identified. Treatment options
can be determined by providing the physician with which antibiotics the
infection will be susceptible to. Over 70% of diagnoses are based, in part,
on laboratory test results.”
“Working in the lab is never boring,” says Colleen. “Every day is different and challenging. One day we are preparing blood products for transfusion, the next we may spend most of the day taking apart a machine.” “A large part of laboratory is keeping up with regulatory requirements for laboratory testing,” continued Colleen. “The lab is one of the most highly regulated departments in the hospital. There is a lot of work that goes into making sure that every result that we turn out is correct. Our lab is accredited by the State of Idaho and is inspected to ensure that we are following all regulatory requirements. “ Lab work is very fast paced as we are striving to provide high quality test results in the least amount of time. In the next 5 years it is estimated that up to 20% of the medical laboratory scientists nationwide will be retiring. There are tremendous employment opportunities in this field all over the country. This is a great time to look into this field! |
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