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I've been sitting in a lab for the last 5 hours doing nothing - AMA

Yep, I'm at work on a night shift (8pm-8am) for the NHS and right now have not had anything to do since turning up (no samples and Sundays/Mondays are always slow...).

AMA. Yep, slow night.

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Reply 1

sy!Â¡

what do u usually do in ur lab :smile:

Reply 2

Scienceisgood

Original post by sy!¡

what do u usually do in ur lab :smile:

Our job is to process COVID-19 samples ready for analysis in the next load of labs for analysis (they're the ones who get the positive or negative results). So we sort, process and inactivate the virus through heating it to 70+ degrees for around an hour. =)

Reply 3

Ten-Ten

So are you just staring at the wall until your shift is done

Reply 4

Joleee

my housemate same situation :yep:

when do they decide to send you home?

Reply 5

jenerous

What would you like to talk about?

Reply 6

Scienceisgood

Original post by Ten-Ten

So are you just staring at the wall until your shift is done

Right now I'm sitting here watching YouTube videos on the lab computers. Nothing else to do TBH, no cleaning to do right now and no samples coming in to do anything with. =(

Original post by Joleee

my housemate same situation :yep:

when do they decide to send you home?

Last week we got lucky and they let us go home at 6pm (with an 8pm end time) because there were no samples coming in but yesterday we were only let go 10 mins early after sitting around for literally 40 mins doing nothing but talking to each other.

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 7

Scienceisgood

Original post by jenerous

What would you like to talk about?

Right now, anything because I'm here for another 7 hours and right now we have no signs of any samples coming in anytime soon... although I do have a lunch break in a couple of hours. =)

Reply 8

jenerous

Original post by Scienceisgood

Right now, anything because I'm here for another 7 hours and right now we have no signs of any samples coming in anytime soon... although I do have a lunch break in a couple of hours. =)

Do you have colleagues around that you can talk to? It'll make time go quicker, and fun too.

Reply 9

Scienceisgood

Original post by jenerous

Do you have colleagues around that you can talk to? It'll make time go quicker, and fun too.

Yeah but when you're working 12 hour shifts for 3 days straight and with nothing to do for at least half of that time, you quickly run out of things to talk about...

Reply 10

jenerous

Original post by Scienceisgood

Yeah but when you're working 12 hour shifts for 3 days straight and with nothing to do for at least half of that time, you quickly run out of things to talk about...

Do you generally enjoy the shifts when you have work to do?
If so, what's the best part about the job? If not, what's the worst?

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 11

Scienceisgood

Original post by jenerous

Do you generally enjoy the shifts when you have work to do?

TBH, everyone does because if you've run out of stuff to talk about and it is in the early hours of the morning and you have nothing to do, your mind goes numb and you start falling asleep out of boredom. There is only so much news out there, emails to check etc... =(

Reply 12

Joleee

Original post by Scienceisgood

Right now I'm sitting here watching YouTube videos on the lab computers. Nothing else to do TBH, no cleaning to do right now and no samples coming in to do anything with. =(

Last week we got lucky and they let us go home at 6pm (with an 8pm end time) because there were no samples coming in but yesterday we were only let go 10 mins early after sitting around for literally 40 mins doing nothing but talking to each other.

so like, do you sit in the cafeteria during down time or where do you hang out? do you have to socially distance during that time?

Reply 13

Scienceisgood

Original post by Joleee

so like, do you sit in the cafeteria during down time or where do you hang out? do you have to socially distance during that time?

Yep, we have to socially distance whenever and wherever possible and there isn't a canteen but there is a communal room which is relatively large where everyone eats their lunch. We also get all the bottled water and fruit we could ever want for free (basically apples, bananas and satsumas/oranges). So it is a fairly standard workplace environment right now except in workplace, in our working area we have to wear labcoats, facemasks, gloves, sleeve covers and plastic aprons too. =l

Reply 14

Scienceisgood

Original post by jenerous

Do you generally enjoy the shifts when you have work to do?
If so, what's the best part about the job? If not, what's the worst?

Best part about the job, generally just a standard job tbh, nothing special about it stands out but when it's quiet we're under no strict stress to stay in the lab. Right now we have noticed that the place which sends us samples have just started packing stuff to send us but right now, we don't know when we'll get them but I am not expecting much because weekends and Mondays are very quiet...

Reply 15

Smeraldettoi

Original post by Scienceisgood

Yep, I'm at work on a night shift (8pm-8am) for the NHS and right now have not had anything to do since turning up (no samples and Sundays/Mondays are always slow...).

AMA. Yep, slow night.

Are you a “qualified” NHS lab worker (by that I meant someone whose gone through the STP)?

Reply 16

Joleee

Original post by Scienceisgood

wouldn't it be nice if they provided free Tesco sandwiches and wraps :biggrin:

so when you're not in your work area (ie the communal area) you don't have to wear all that gear?

on a scale of 1-10 how afraid are you of catching Covid?

Reply 17

Scienceisgood

Original post by Smeraldettoi

Are you a “qualified” NHS lab worker (by that I meant someone whose gone through the STP)?

I've gone through training procedures, yes but I also have degree in Biomedical Science but don't currently have a health care professional councils certificate which is why I took my current position (medical lab assistant) to give me experience to apply for a position in a hospital which offers it. I've just applied for 3 trainee positions HOPING to be accepted for one as if I get it, I can get it within 1-2 years and be a fully qualified BMS. =)

Original post by Joleee

wouldn't it be nice if they provided free Tesco sandwiches and wraps :biggrin:

so when you're not in your work area (ie the communal area) you don't have to wear all that gear?

on a scale of 1-10 how afraid are you of catching Covid?

I'm concerned but I've had one of my jabs and am currently awaiting the second one so, I'm kind of prepared should I come into contact with it (hopefully not a resistant strain to the vaccine) and yes it would be nice to have Tesco food! =D

No we don't have to wear it all, only facemasks as the labcoats can't go past a line and all the PPE has to be dumped in the clinical waste bins before we leave the lab. =)

Reply 18

adc341

How did you get into your job? It seems very interesting :biggrin:

Reply 19

Scienceisgood

Original post by adc341

How did you get into your job? It seems very interesting :biggrin:

Funny story.

Initially I wanted to be a teacher and found the medical sciences interesting but didn't get the predicted grades to do proper medicine and so done Biomedical Science and took a particular interest in the clinical biochemistry side. =)

I then go into teaching and decide to leave after a couple of years after finishing (went straight into a PGCE after my degree) and decide that it isn't for me (too many headaches). I leave in December 2019, guess what, COVID hits near enough the exact same time I decide to leave... so I find myself out of a job for a year.

I then find this position going and thought why not, it's a job, NHS experience and hopefully opens doors for me. So I find myself here.