eLABorate Topics

Are you on the verge of giving up and ready for a career change? Are you tired of not receiving any recognition for the critical work that you do as a phlebotomist? Do you think you are stuck working in a hospital lab with no way out? This episode is for you!  Whether you ever thought about starting your own phlebotomy school, mobile patient service center, or just being an innovator using your ph...

Are you managing your mind?  Are you doing a good job at managing your own thoughts, perspectives, talents and energy? Negative experiences are inevitable but, what is the key to keeping a positive outlook no matter the situation?   In today’s exciting episode the co-host, Stephanie Whitehead, shares insight on how to neutralize negative thinking, change your perceptive. Tune out the distractions...

As the medical lab field deals with the challenges of limited staffing and looking towards  the “great retirement”, the lab is struck by the negative effects of the pandemic, “the great attrition”. People are resigning from jobs in droves according to the McKenzie Quarterly. This to us is a triple wammy!   In this episode Lona Small gave tips that informal leaders could use to improve the morale o...

In this episode of eLABorate Topics podcast, cohosts Lona Small, Stephanie Whitehead and Tywauna Wilson discuss how you can lead without a title. All of the cohosts agreed that a leader is not necessarily one with a title of manager, supervisor, lead technologist or other well- known titles in the lab. A leader is one who can be a role model and influence others to follow them or their ideas. One...

Are you stressed and overwhelmed trying to manage all of your tasks and projects? Do you need help meeting all of your deadlines? Want to engage your team to take on more responsibility? Then this episode is for you!! In this episode, co-host Tywauna Wilson shares tips for effective delegation. Key Takeaways: Delegation is an essential leadership skill Know when to delegate Who can handle the proj...

Special Guest Bio: Anne has over 25 years’ experience in the laboratory management and healthcare consulting business. As former laboratory Manager at National Jewish Hospital in Denver, Colorado, and a Group IT Software and Automation Manager at Sysmex America, she is an experienced professional with a demonstrated history of managing laboratory information. She is a principal at Talking Laborato...

In this episode Lona Small discusses the benefits of being a role model as a Lab operational excellence leader. Lona discusses the work environment where there is a lot of gossiping, tattle-tailing, drama, call-outs and resisting change, and the effect of a role model in such an environment. Lona shows that a leader can change and create the team culture by being a role model. Lona includes 5  ste...

In this episode, co-host Tywauna Wilson shares tips to consider when your organization is Standardizing or integrating multiple labs.  Tips to Consider When Standardizing Across Multiple Locations It's not personal Keep an open mind Use your voice  Respect the expertise of all teammates    Call to Action: Connect with us on LinkedIn: eLABorate Topics Group Be a Supporter! Listen on Directimpactbro...

"Everything rises and falls on leadership"- John C. Maxwell Have you ever worked in a laboratory and your boss couldn't or wouldn't lead? Did it impact the productivity, morale, confidence, and success of the team? Many people find themselves in this situation due to a variety of reasons.    Listen to the episode, with pen and paper, as Co-Hosts Tywauna Wilson, Lona Small, and Stephanie Whitehead...

Lona went in more details to include how a lab leader can put together a clear vision for their lab. This included more information than was in the vision section of Lona’s, 5-day challenge course, “From Technical expert to an Impactful leader”.  Lona included the approach in Cameron Heron’s book “Vivid Vision”, where he suggested several pages for a vision, and not just a sentence. Lona included...

Are you managing your team to perform at its highest level of productivity? Is your team committed to the idea of being a part of a high functioning laboratory? Listen to the episode, with pen and paper, as Stephanie Whitehead, MBA, MPH, MT (ASCP) guides listeners through the necessary steps to motivate your team and drive results! Tune in as she walks the listeners through: The difference between...

The current climate of limited availability of well- trained medical lab professionals makes it even more important now to look at ways to retain the great employees we currently have. Even though there is significant burden of responsibility to retain well trained medical lab professionals  on the managers, there are others in the institution that play important roles in creating the environment...

The United States Department of Labor reported in April 2021 that job openings were at an all time high with record breaking job openings of 9.3 million. Our labs are not immune to this and we are seeing it with the numerous openings that are hard to fill and  colleagues leaving at a rapid pace with no replacements. This is leaving our workplaces feeling abandoned. Today's laboratorians have a cho...

Co-host Lona Small interviews Olibrian Mallari about his journey journey in the Phillippines and how he has been able to have success inside and outside of the lab.  Pilipino Medical Lab Scientist Olibrian Mallari shared his journey from a Phlebotomist to Medical Lab Scientist, faculty member and now head of Hematology, Phlebotomy and involvement in many other roles. Olibrian also gave the audienc...

Is your laboratory team diverse, both in common proxies (gender, race, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc) and some of the less common proxies (education level, certification level, region of the county someone grew up in, social/economic class or even background)? By definition, diversity is recognizing each individual as the unique combination of experiences and perspectiv...

In this episode, Stephanie Whitehead talks with Medical Lab Lady Gill (Tiffany Gill) about her career in the laboratory profession and how her role as an educator inspired her to create the popular YouTube channel, “Medical Lab Lady Gill”. Today, Professor Gill’s YouTube channel is an internationally viewed space with over 17K subscribers! The channel features helpful videos that teach fundamental...

Did you know the 200th greatest tennis player wins about 49% of the points they play versus the #1 greatest tennis player in the world wins about 53% of the points they play. The difference of being ok and being the best in the world is making 4% fewer mistakes, at least in tennis. Career mistakes can be just as costly! There's a big difference in losing a job and being promoted. Sometimes success...

Lona uses the framework from one of her courses “From Technical Expert to Impactful Leader” With the framework, Lona leads the listeners through the different steps to gain clarity on what needs to change. She leads the listeners into making the commitment needed, how to break the commitment statement into activities and milestones in order to have impactful outcomes of the change effort. In this...

In this episode, Stephanie Whitehead talks with Social Media Ambassador, Maria Roussakis, about her career in the laboratory profession and about how she has used the power of social media to engage and network with other clinical laboratory professionals all over the world. Maria’s popular Twitter chat, #MedLabChat, is a monthly discussion that features interesting topics for all laboratory scien...

Influence is the impact to shape the character, development and behavior of others. No titles are needed to have influence but it is necessary for those wanting to lead at their highest level. One way to increase your influence is to become a masterful communicator where you will establish collaboration, confidence and show that you care. In today's episode, co-hosts Tywauna Wilson and Lona Small...

 A recent Gallop survey found that 51% of the US workplace are disengaged which means they are checked out and not happy. This could be due to staffing challenges, constant changes, unfavorable working conditions, conflict in the workplace or numerous other things. When you look around your lab, does this seem to be the case?  You can learn a lot from watching dogs believe it or not. It doesn't ha...

Lab professionals are hugely versatile and the skills we gain while obtaining a degree in Clinical Laboratory Science set a good foundation to learn new skills in other career fields. Tune in and listen to this quick conversation as co-host, Stephanie Whitehead talks with Grace Stankiewicz about tactics to find and transition into opportunities outside of the typical clinical laboratory setting. ...

In this episode of eLABorate Topics podcast, Lona Gordon Small, MBA, PMP, CPBPM, MT (ASCP) discussed the topic of Patient Safety and clarified the difference between lab safety and Patient Safety. She discussed the Comprehensive Unit Safety Program (CUSP) introduced in the lab, the Science of Safety and steps you could use to introduce Patient Safety in the lab. The steps discussed Create a Patien...

You have an opening and are ready to recruit the newest member of your team. There are a few considerations before submitting your next requisition. From planning what to do with the position, to interviewing and asking the right questions, this episode is for you!! Key Takeaways from the show: Planning is essential for filling your next vacancy Behavioral based interviewing questions Consider hav...

 Co-host Tywauna Wilson sat down to talk with Lindsey Clark, MPH, MLS (ASCP) about Laboratory Professional Credentialing & The Importance of Forming a Professional Identity. Medical laboratory science is often referred to as the hidden profession. Many healthcare professionals working in the same hospital as laboratory professionals do not fully understand what we do, so can we really expect t...