Laboratory Assistant (Per Diem, Variable Shift)

Adventist Health Tehachapi Valley has been providing high-quality healthcare services since 1934. We are comprised of a 25-bed hospital, a wide range of outpatient services, an emergency department, rural health clinics, and medical offices. Tehachapi is located just north of Southern California's highly populated areas, with a mountain locale known for its outdoor living, scenic beauty, extreme sports, and wildlife. It offers a balance of small-town community within an epicenter of shopping, retail, arts, and culture.

About the role

Collects blood specimens, receives, handles, and processes specimens for laboratory testing. Performs tasks related to patient registration, test order entry, specimen collection, receiving, and processing. Completes basic post-analytic tasks, including distributing reports, storing, and retrieving specimens. Ensures adherence to all local, state, and federal regulations, codes, policies, and procedures to maintain privacy and safety while delivering optimal patient care.

Responsibilities

• Collects blood specimens for a variety of laboratory tests using age-appropriate techniques; handles and transports lab specimens and provides post-phlebotomy care to patients.
• Receives specimens for testing; assesses specimens upon receipt according to established criteria to determine acceptability and takes action according to protocol, including escalating to licensed or certified personnel for direction.
• Handles and processes a variety of specimen types to prepare them for analysis; adheres to protocols to maintain specimen integrity at all times.
• Completes computerized tasks to ensure patient registration, test order entry into the lab information system, and generation of collection lists and labels.
• Prepares and packages specimens for transport to another Adventist Health or outside reference laboratory; may complete computer steps necessary for processing referred specimens.
• Maintains an adequate inventory of supplies in work area and/or on phlebotomy cart.
• Completes basic documentation of pre-analytic and post-analytic work, as well as quality-related tasks.
• Manages laboratory workflow by monitoring pending work, escalating priority work, locating specimens, and coordinating specimen recollections.
• Verbally communicates released/reported results; routes, distributes, and retransmits released/reported results.
• Stores and retrieves specimens.
• Receives incoming calls for the laboratory and assists the caller as appropriate or transfers calls to the appropriate laboratory section or person.
• Communicates with customers to clarify ambiguous, unclear, or duplicate test orders.
• Performs other job-related duties as assigned.

Requirements

• High School Education/GED or equivalent: Required in CA; Preferred in OR and HI.
• Associate’s/Technical Degree or equivalent combination of education/related experience: Preferred.
• Experience in Phlebotomy in an acute care environment: Preferred.
• Certified Phlebotomy Technician I (CPTI) license: Required in CA; Preferred in OR and HI.
• Phlebotomy Tech (CPT) or Certified Phlebotomy Technician II (CPTII): Required (facility-specific).
• Basic Life Support (BLS) certification from an approved vendor per Adventist Health policy: Required.

Benefits

A comprehensive benefits program is available for qualifying positions. Please contact the Talent Acquisition team for more information.

Pay

The estimated base pay for this position is $25.00 to $30.45 per hour. Additional individual compensation may be available through differentials, extra shift incentives, bonuses, etc.

Schedule

• Shift Length: 8 Hours
• Assignment Category: Per Diem

Adventist Health is a faith-based, nonprofit, integrated health system serving more than 100 communities on the West Coast and Hawaii with over 440 sites of care, including 27 acute care facilities. Our compassionate and talented team of more than 38,000 includes employees, physicians, Medical Staff, and volunteers driven by one mission: living God's love by inspiring health, wholeness, and hope.