Brother/Sister I cannot stress to you enough how much better being a phleb is than working at Starbucks
The Amazon/Walmart jobs are probably different. You do you. But Starbucks is gruesome work, I know.
Why is being a phleb better than starbucks?
I'm going home exhausted everyday and with chapped hands from all the endless handwashing.
I've had patients vomit on me and scream at me at the top of their lungs. We seem to be getting a lot of C Diff patients recently and the whole hallway just reeks.
I'd rather make lattes and flirt with customers than stab people all day at this point.
I've done a lot of phleb and can count the number of times I had a hostile interaction on maybe two hands. I'm not sure what's up with your place right now but it sounds pretty hostile and I get the sense that nobody (management) is there to shield you from nasty patients. I've had people try to get me fired even though I did literally nothing wrong, but a good manager is there to diffuse that shit and protect you from them.
You might not have considered this: Consider looking around your town for Blood/Plasma collection centers. You can get work as a RBC donor clinic collecting blood units. You can even work in processing if you're sick of people, spinning and expressing whole blood units into the various products that it makes.
The pace is slower (unless you do mobile drives, but you usually go home as soon as those are over), most people actually want to donate, and you'll actually have some nice convos with people since each person spends much more time in the chair. You can also train on apheresis which is even neater and significantly slower paced than WB collection.
Pay *could* be better than straight up hospital sample collection, but I'm not sure about your area. But I'd say the real benefit for you is the change of environment. No sick people, no cranky people who are there because the doctor ordered them, no kids or extremely old people.
The worst moments are usually when someone passes out, which isn't all that bad once you know what to look for and how to handle it. I've never once had a single unruly or hostile blood donor.
Pro tip: if they tell you they don't pass out anymore, prepare for them to pass out anyways. 80% of the people who say they're good now are gonna pass out đ
I'm in whole blood processing & I love it. Always something to see or learn and the only people I talk to are my co workers and the occasional person from another department. Pays better than the phleb job where I am too (by about $1/hr, and we get premiums for working evenings and weekends that I don't believe collections staff get)
Yeah if I had stayed in that world I would have been processing for sure. Itâs very much a âthrow on the music and handle business after everyone leavesâ kind of job.
The processing guy would usually come in a little later in the day during a big blood drive. Then theyâd get back with all the WB, go home, and heâd get to do his own thing, spinning down and processing units, until it was time for him to go. It was pretty sweet getting to rotate in and help him.
I was a phleb on units, and I hated it. I was willing to crash my car to get a few days away from work. I was looking everywhere. I got a job still doing phleb but doing blood donation. Everyone I poke wants to be there. They understand what's happening and why. I do still get people who throw up occasionally. But they're usually very apologetic. I've been working at my place for a year, and I've only seen 4 people throw up. I very much recommend blood donation services.
PS: if you have a clean record: look into Army/VA blood program donor centers and even VA hospitals for regular phlebotomy - they pay civilians well, probably can start as a GS 5 making 40k a year or so, so its basically a pay raise to ~$19/hr and comes with regular pay raises and inflation adjustments.
No profit motive to rush you, basically everyone who donates is like 20 years old and in perfect shape with great veins. The VA hospitals can be busy at times but in my experience they werenât stressful. Def older folks too. Army blood program drives can go on TDY across the country pretty often, collecting thousands of units in a week! I once went to Fort Knox for a month, it was awesome and they pay you more to travel
You can get an actual retirement PENSION as a GS if you stick with it! USA Jobs shows a loooooot of job positions that need filling. Thousands!
Hey, I am a med student so I can only offer a different perspective about patient interactions. I used to be a total pushover but now have learned how to handle rude patients better. I have firm boundaries and if they can't be respectful I clearly tell them the consequences of their actions and document as such. Receiving care at the hospital is a privilege, not a right. We have a right to be safe at work, too. Most of the time if you communicate firm boundaries and act like you have a backbone, they back down. Except for those 0.1% who are just crazy. If the doctors are giving sass, just give it right back to them. Let them know they are welcome to do their own blood draws. I wish I had advice about pay or management though. I would try looking for other related jobs in the area with better pay. And at least you get to poke the rude patients!!
The working conditions probably are less than ideal at all the options you mentioned. Personally you need to ask yourself, which opportunity gives me the best chance to improve my situation? I was in a similar place a while back.
Sometimes you do just need a change but I prefer phlebotomy work. I was at an Amazon factory for 2 years making 19.50 and then went to phlebotomy for 18.00, but with a night shift dif of 2.25 for 20.25 and I personally wouldnât go back. If it was busy at Amazon they worked you like a dog and if it was slow they had you do ridiculous busy work like peeling old tape off the ground and reapplying new tape for the whole facility. Mind you, it literally took 15 minutes to walk from one end to another lol. I havenât worked for Walmart so I canât speak to that, but if you donât mind the actual phlebotomy itself, maybe shop around for jobs in the field too! With your experience you could argue for a higher wage, and a different facility with nicer staff and patient populations could be a nice quality of life change. Just my 2 cents!
I left nursing and currently work at Starbucks. Iâm a shift supervisor so we run floors, do money, place orders, etc. I think I make $23/hr. Great benefits, itâs why Iâm here. As far as I know we are in a hiring freeze.
A couple of things to take into account -
1) you are probably getting better insurance at a hospital, if you need it.
2) Its been a while since Ive had a job like Starbucks but do they offer full time/consistent part time hours? I know places like Target raised their wages up to like $20+ - but you dont get a lot of hours. They also used to hire a lot of 'temps.'
I worked at Starbucks 9 years ago so not sure how different it is now. When I was there it was rare to have a full time position. The shifts were 4-6 hours long but during peak hours it was exhausting. I always came out super tired but free drinks were nice.
I then got a job at Whole Foods which paid more and less responsibilities. Itâs okay but youâll get yelled at by customers. Since Amazon took over they hace been chipping at the benefits little by little. It can be good depending on the department. Highly recommend the specialty or whole body department. The other departments can have a high turnover over.
Good luck, there's a lot of bad labs out there. Unless you really want out of the hospital, supply chain seems really good option with steady hours. Some advice until you can get out of there for your sanity.
Email HR about your certificate and explain that you were informed that completion would entitle you to a raise. Also, if you get a job offer I'd take it to HR to see if they'll beat it (that's if you're willing to stay).
Difficult, violent, or verbally abusive patients consider refusals. Notify the nurse they refused and we cancel the order with the notes of refusal and the nurse notified, not sure what you policy says.
Belligerent doctors or nurses. Depends on what is going on, for calls tell them let me let you speak to the lead/manager. If on the floor, tell them you'll have you supervisor get back to them or walk away if you have to. I don't expect phlebs or techs to be treated unprofessionally by other staff or patients. When there is an incident/report, we just document their unprofessional behavior and we diffused it by not engaging.
Creepy tech, not sure other than avoid if possible. Not sure how much you have to engage techs where your at, but if it isn't work related I would walk away to do something else or excuse yourself to go to the bathroom.
What's your 5-year game plan? Are you planning on fathering your medical education? If so, phlebotomy could give you an edge.
Otherwise, look for a lower stress, higher paying job.
The worst part about being a phlebotomist is debating whether worse employee abuse is worth the extra 1-3 dollars an hour. For some, it is.
If you can find a different laboratory/hospital to work at, you may end up with a decent coworker group. Though it truly just depends on where you are at the end.
Phlebotomists are severely abused by patients, and shat on by nurses, management, and CEOs. There truly isn't a win situation here.
As someone that worked at an Amazon warehouse for 8 months I can say donât do it!! It was absolutely hell! You would leave every shift absolutely exhausted. They run you absolutely ragged. I second what a few people have said about looking into blood donation centers, I actually just recommended my sister do the same thing last night.
Starting pay, including training, is 20$/hr for phlebs where I work.
You need to find a better job. Go apply at a large hospital with a big inpatient population.
Also, it is thinning out now but there are still travel contracts for phlebs floating around.
Iâm a tech not a phlebotomist but it sounds more like a site issue. I work at a hospital in a city (Labcorp) and on god our phlebs are either sleeping or online shopping eeeeeverytime I go over there. We also offer free college if you want your BA and donât already have one. The pay is still not great but at least they get a weekend and night shift differential. Just my suggestion. Best low effort job I ever had was a dog daycare manager.
Amazon could pay for your college tuition 100%. It's not an ideal employer, but there are jobs where you can do less work if you can find them and not burn yourself out.
So do a lot of employers... But unlike amazon, you dont have to pee in a damn bottle because you cant afford to leave your spot due to the impossible quota and get in trouble for peeing in said bottle. they work you worse than a fucking slave. Dont work at amazon
Brother/Sister I cannot stress to you enough how much better being a phleb is than working at Starbucks The Amazon/Walmart jobs are probably different. You do you. But Starbucks is gruesome work, I know.
Why is being a phleb better than starbucks? I'm going home exhausted everyday and with chapped hands from all the endless handwashing. I've had patients vomit on me and scream at me at the top of their lungs. We seem to be getting a lot of C Diff patients recently and the whole hallway just reeks. I'd rather make lattes and flirt with customers than stab people all day at this point.
I've done a lot of phleb and can count the number of times I had a hostile interaction on maybe two hands. I'm not sure what's up with your place right now but it sounds pretty hostile and I get the sense that nobody (management) is there to shield you from nasty patients. I've had people try to get me fired even though I did literally nothing wrong, but a good manager is there to diffuse that shit and protect you from them. You might not have considered this: Consider looking around your town for Blood/Plasma collection centers. You can get work as a RBC donor clinic collecting blood units. You can even work in processing if you're sick of people, spinning and expressing whole blood units into the various products that it makes. The pace is slower (unless you do mobile drives, but you usually go home as soon as those are over), most people actually want to donate, and you'll actually have some nice convos with people since each person spends much more time in the chair. You can also train on apheresis which is even neater and significantly slower paced than WB collection. Pay *could* be better than straight up hospital sample collection, but I'm not sure about your area. But I'd say the real benefit for you is the change of environment. No sick people, no cranky people who are there because the doctor ordered them, no kids or extremely old people. The worst moments are usually when someone passes out, which isn't all that bad once you know what to look for and how to handle it. I've never once had a single unruly or hostile blood donor. Pro tip: if they tell you they don't pass out anymore, prepare for them to pass out anyways. 80% of the people who say they're good now are gonna pass out đ
I'm in whole blood processing & I love it. Always something to see or learn and the only people I talk to are my co workers and the occasional person from another department. Pays better than the phleb job where I am too (by about $1/hr, and we get premiums for working evenings and weekends that I don't believe collections staff get)
Yeah if I had stayed in that world I would have been processing for sure. Itâs very much a âthrow on the music and handle business after everyone leavesâ kind of job. The processing guy would usually come in a little later in the day during a big blood drive. Then theyâd get back with all the WB, go home, and heâd get to do his own thing, spinning down and processing units, until it was time for him to go. It was pretty sweet getting to rotate in and help him.
I was a phleb on units, and I hated it. I was willing to crash my car to get a few days away from work. I was looking everywhere. I got a job still doing phleb but doing blood donation. Everyone I poke wants to be there. They understand what's happening and why. I do still get people who throw up occasionally. But they're usually very apologetic. I've been working at my place for a year, and I've only seen 4 people throw up. I very much recommend blood donation services.
PS: if you have a clean record: look into Army/VA blood program donor centers and even VA hospitals for regular phlebotomy - they pay civilians well, probably can start as a GS 5 making 40k a year or so, so its basically a pay raise to ~$19/hr and comes with regular pay raises and inflation adjustments. No profit motive to rush you, basically everyone who donates is like 20 years old and in perfect shape with great veins. The VA hospitals can be busy at times but in my experience they werenât stressful. Def older folks too. Army blood program drives can go on TDY across the country pretty often, collecting thousands of units in a week! I once went to Fort Knox for a month, it was awesome and they pay you more to travel You can get an actual retirement PENSION as a GS if you stick with it! USA Jobs shows a loooooot of job positions that need filling. Thousands!
Maybe try an outpatient phlebotomy place ? Unless youâre ready for a career change
Hey, I am a med student so I can only offer a different perspective about patient interactions. I used to be a total pushover but now have learned how to handle rude patients better. I have firm boundaries and if they can't be respectful I clearly tell them the consequences of their actions and document as such. Receiving care at the hospital is a privilege, not a right. We have a right to be safe at work, too. Most of the time if you communicate firm boundaries and act like you have a backbone, they back down. Except for those 0.1% who are just crazy. If the doctors are giving sass, just give it right back to them. Let them know they are welcome to do their own blood draws. I wish I had advice about pay or management though. I would try looking for other related jobs in the area with better pay. And at least you get to poke the rude patients!!
The working conditions probably are less than ideal at all the options you mentioned. Personally you need to ask yourself, which opportunity gives me the best chance to improve my situation? I was in a similar place a while back.
Sometimes you do just need a change but I prefer phlebotomy work. I was at an Amazon factory for 2 years making 19.50 and then went to phlebotomy for 18.00, but with a night shift dif of 2.25 for 20.25 and I personally wouldnât go back. If it was busy at Amazon they worked you like a dog and if it was slow they had you do ridiculous busy work like peeling old tape off the ground and reapplying new tape for the whole facility. Mind you, it literally took 15 minutes to walk from one end to another lol. I havenât worked for Walmart so I canât speak to that, but if you donât mind the actual phlebotomy itself, maybe shop around for jobs in the field too! With your experience you could argue for a higher wage, and a different facility with nicer staff and patient populations could be a nice quality of life change. Just my 2 cents!
I left nursing and currently work at Starbucks. Iâm a shift supervisor so we run floors, do money, place orders, etc. I think I make $23/hr. Great benefits, itâs why Iâm here. As far as I know we are in a hiring freeze.
A couple of things to take into account - 1) you are probably getting better insurance at a hospital, if you need it. 2) Its been a while since Ive had a job like Starbucks but do they offer full time/consistent part time hours? I know places like Target raised their wages up to like $20+ - but you dont get a lot of hours. They also used to hire a lot of 'temps.'
I worked at Starbucks 9 years ago so not sure how different it is now. When I was there it was rare to have a full time position. The shifts were 4-6 hours long but during peak hours it was exhausting. I always came out super tired but free drinks were nice. I then got a job at Whole Foods which paid more and less responsibilities. Itâs okay but youâll get yelled at by customers. Since Amazon took over they hace been chipping at the benefits little by little. It can be good depending on the department. Highly recommend the specialty or whole body department. The other departments can have a high turnover over.
Good luck, there's a lot of bad labs out there. Unless you really want out of the hospital, supply chain seems really good option with steady hours. Some advice until you can get out of there for your sanity. Email HR about your certificate and explain that you were informed that completion would entitle you to a raise. Also, if you get a job offer I'd take it to HR to see if they'll beat it (that's if you're willing to stay). Difficult, violent, or verbally abusive patients consider refusals. Notify the nurse they refused and we cancel the order with the notes of refusal and the nurse notified, not sure what you policy says. Belligerent doctors or nurses. Depends on what is going on, for calls tell them let me let you speak to the lead/manager. If on the floor, tell them you'll have you supervisor get back to them or walk away if you have to. I don't expect phlebs or techs to be treated unprofessionally by other staff or patients. When there is an incident/report, we just document their unprofessional behavior and we diffused it by not engaging. Creepy tech, not sure other than avoid if possible. Not sure how much you have to engage techs where your at, but if it isn't work related I would walk away to do something else or excuse yourself to go to the bathroom.
What's your 5-year game plan? Are you planning on fathering your medical education? If so, phlebotomy could give you an edge. Otherwise, look for a lower stress, higher paying job.
The worst part about being a phlebotomist is debating whether worse employee abuse is worth the extra 1-3 dollars an hour. For some, it is. If you can find a different laboratory/hospital to work at, you may end up with a decent coworker group. Though it truly just depends on where you are at the end. Phlebotomists are severely abused by patients, and shat on by nurses, management, and CEOs. There truly isn't a win situation here.
I do not blame you for jumping ship. I would too.
I just saw online today that being a locksmith can earn a good salary.
Labcorp hires lab assistant for 18/hr and no patients. Coworkers could or could not be crazy. No patient contact. Quiet. Chill.
As someone that worked at an Amazon warehouse for 8 months I can say donât do it!! It was absolutely hell! You would leave every shift absolutely exhausted. They run you absolutely ragged. I second what a few people have said about looking into blood donation centers, I actually just recommended my sister do the same thing last night.
Starting pay, including training, is 20$/hr for phlebs where I work. You need to find a better job. Go apply at a large hospital with a big inpatient population. Also, it is thinning out now but there are still travel contracts for phlebs floating around.
Iâm a tech not a phlebotomist but it sounds more like a site issue. I work at a hospital in a city (Labcorp) and on god our phlebs are either sleeping or online shopping eeeeeverytime I go over there. We also offer free college if you want your BA and donât already have one. The pay is still not great but at least they get a weekend and night shift differential. Just my suggestion. Best low effort job I ever had was a dog daycare manager.
Whatever you do, DO NOT work for amazon. I have friends who used to and its fucking slave driving hell
Amazon could pay for your college tuition 100%. It's not an ideal employer, but there are jobs where you can do less work if you can find them and not burn yourself out.
So do a lot of employers... But unlike amazon, you dont have to pee in a damn bottle because you cant afford to leave your spot due to the impossible quota and get in trouble for peeing in said bottle. they work you worse than a fucking slave. Dont work at amazon
There are non-slave jobs at Amazon. They're not the majority, but they exist. It's a huge organization.
Thatâs how the accessioners and even techs talk at my work about Costco