What I Do

I had a lot of fun creating this meme, so I hope you all find the humor in it as well. Deciding on some of the images was tougher than others, but I think they pretty much sum up the life of a lab tech.

What nurses think I do- It’s common knowledge in the lab that no one really knows what a lab technician is, even those in the medical field. In our hospital we do not have phlebotomist, so the nurses draw all of the labs. When our lab first opened we had to explain that although most of us do know how to draw labs, our main duty is to analyze the samples that have been collected. People hear Lab and automatically think blood draw, so this is a common problem we face.

What my mom thinks I do- I chose the extensive use of Personal protective equipment because she thinks what I do is gross. I like to tell her stories about my day just to see the looks on her face.

What my husband thinks I do- My husband is a lab tech as well, but he works in a much busier lab. He likes to joke that all I do is drink coffee and talk to doctors all day.  

What my boss thinks I do- This is the one image I knew I had to use. Beaker from the Muppet's Show is the mascot of most laboratories.

What I think I do- Last year’s National Laboratory Professionals Week theme was “Not all superheroes wear capes, some wear lab coats”. I think that theme pretty much summed up how I feel about my job. The work we do helps doctors diagnose and treat serious illnesses every day. We are among the many departments of unsung heroes of the medical field.

What I actually do- On a normal day I identify different types of bacteria from sites such as urine, sputum, blood, and wound cultures. We use agars like the ones pictured to grow the bacteria and isolate it from any normal good bacteria that may grow as well. Once I have identified the organism I then have to do antibiotic susceptibility testing to determine what drugs should be used to treat the infection.