Working nights is hard. Third shift. The off shift. Whatever you want to call it. I can stay up all night, but when I get home, whoa buddy, do I want to go to bed. The only problem is, eight hours from 8am is 4pm. So I end up sleeping most of the day away. I guess I feel like I have more ‘time’ available to me, but I feel like my life is eaten up with sleep and work. Not that my paycheck complains about that. There’s not much to do on night shift either. Unless it’s really busy, which it so far hasn’t been, then there’s a lot of down time. But then we complain when it gets to be 4am and the nurse’s decide that a cell count on a patient that is practically a permanent resident of the hospital is a ‘convenient’ time. Not really. When you are without sleep, it’s hard to do. Weird Chemistry tests are hard to accomplish too. It broke the monotony this morning to do two Osmolalities. I guess this leads me into my next two rants: Don’t complain about lack of sleep when you come in at 6:00am and I am NOT ‘just an MLT’.

OK. First, morning shift, stop complaining. You got enough ‘sleep’. If you didn’t, then go to bed earlier. Don’t complain about wanting to call in or not getting enough sleep. FYI — I just stayed up all night doing maintenance and being bored. Then you come in, and complain for your first half hour and do nothing while I run around and do all the work you could be taking over for me. Drink some coffee and get over it!

Next. Don’t say ‘just an MLT’ or ‘another overencompassing MLT’ when I’m around. I am that person. I just don’t yell it out like some people do. Yes, I want to get my MT…I WILL get my MT. I understand that when this is said to me, it probably doesn’t involve me, because I am recognized as NOT just another MLT but a really good tech (even though I just started) and that I really do know what’s going on. No, I haven’t taken my BOR yet. But I know that taking a test from something other than the ASCP or the NCA really doesn’t qualify you to do what I do. And, sorry to say, MLT’s and MT’s at where I work, do pretty much the same thing. Only micro is different than the rest of the lab. Otherwise, I can do everything they can do. I believe my instructor’s story about how he had a ‘just another MLT’ co-worker, and he overcame those obstacles to allow that co-worker to say that he will never say ‘just another MLT’ again. Hopefully I can do that, but when other MLT’s come in and be loud and get what they want, that they do something to mess that up. Not hurt any patients, but that those above them do not look to them when they have problems. Anyone who wants to work nights for a living is crazy.