Behind the Microscope: My Night Duty Experience in the Lab
One Night, Hundreds of Lives: My Night Duty Experience in a Medical Lab
Working the night shift in a medical laboratory is more than just analyzing samples. It’s a test of strength, speed, and emotional resilience — especially when you’re alone on duty.
It was 7:00 PM when I clocked in for what seemed like a regular night shift. But nothing about that night was ordinary.
Due to staff shortages, our lab — which used to have two night duty personnel — now had only one technologist handling all lab responsibilities, and that person was me.
Our hospital is both an oncology center and a pediatric facility, which means most of our patients are children battling leukemia. This alone makes our lab work emotionally and technically intense.
The Never-Ending Stream of STAT Samples
From the moment I started, the STAT samples never stopped coming in:
- CSF samples
- Body fluids
- Coagulation profiles
- CBCs and ESRs
- Peripheral blood smears that had to be read immediately
- Other miscellaneous tests
Being assigned to the fifth floor Hematology Department made things even harder. Our sample reception is on the first floor, so every time new samples arrived, the phone rang — and it never stopped ringing.
I was running back and forth, trying to meet the turnaround time (TAT) for every test. If TATs are delayed, I get a warning from the manager — which added pressure on top of pressure.
Physical and Mental Burn Out
The ER was swamped, and I was the only person on the entire lab floor — multitasking nonstop. From pipetting to reading critical slides, answering phones to preparing smears — I was exhausted, overwhelmed, and breaking, yet I had to push through. No breaks. No silence. Just me and the urgency of each life-saving test.
By 7:00 AM, after 12 straight hours without food, I couldn’t hold my emotions. I broke down and cried in front of the morning shift staff, saying, “One person on night shift is not possible. Someone will pass out, especially if there’s no time even to eat.”
The Turning Point
That emotional moment reached our manager. Soon after, the schedule was revised. Now, two technologists are assigned to night shift — one from 7 PM to 7 AM and another from 10 PM to 7 AM, especially to help during the 4 AM rush.
Final Thoughts – What I Learned That Night
Working in a medical laboratory isn’t just about tests and tubes — it’s about life, responsibility, and the invisible emotional and physical toll behind every result we release.
This night reminded me of three vital lessons:
- Real change starts when someone speaks up.
- Advocacy is courage, not weakness.
- Mental and physical burnout is real and must not be ignored.
- Lab professionals are silent heroes who deserve rest, support, and respect.
To every medical technologist reading this:
You are strong, but don’t suffer in silence. Your health matters too.