Laboratory Assistant - Hospital (Full Time)

UnityPoint Health; Cedar Rapids (IA); On-site; USD 35,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player in healthcare is seeking dedicated individuals for a vital lab role. This position involves interacting with patients and nursing staff while supporting laboratory workflows. Responsibilities include blood collection, sample processing, and performing CLIA waived testing. The organization fosters a supportive culture and offers competitive benefits, including paid time off and health insurance, ensuring that employees feel valued. If you are passionate about contributing to community health and enjoy working in a collaborative environment, this opportunity is ideal for you.

Benefits

Paid time off

Parental leave

401K matching

Employee recognition program

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Short and long-term disability

Tuition reimbursement

Pet insurance

Daily Pay access

Qualifications

• High School diploma required with fluency in English.
• Customer-focused with critical thinking skills.

Responsibilities

• Perform patient blood collections and sample processing.
• Ensure accurate patient identification and sample labeling.
• Assist in training new employees and maintain communication.

Skills

Fluent English

Customer/patient focus

Critical thinking

Multicultural sensitivity

Education

High School Graduate or Equivalent

Tools

Microsoft Office

Sunquest

EPIC

Job description

UPH Additional Information

Why UnityPoint Health?

Commitment to our Team – We’re proud to be recognized as a Top 150 Place to Work in Healthcare by Becker's Healthcare several years in a row for our commitment to our team members.

Culture – At UnityPoint Health, you matter. Come for a fulfilling career and experience a culture guided by uncompromising values and an unwavering belief in doing what's right for the people we serve.

Benefits – Our competitive Total Rewards program offers benefits options that align with your needs and priorities, no matter what life stage you’re in.

• Caring is what we do, and it starts with our team members: expect paid time off, parental leave, 401K matching and an employee recognition program as we support you both personally and professionally.
• You can only give your best when you feel your best, and we help you live well with dental and health insurance, paid holidays, short and long-term disability and more. We even offer pet insurance for your four-legged family members to give you peace of mind.
• We strive to make things easier and more personal in health care to set us apart from the rest, and you can experience that commitment through early access to earned wages with Daily Pay, a tuition reimbursement program designed to help you further your career and adoption assistance to help you grow your family in the way that works for you.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Commitment – At UnityPoint Health, we honor the ways people are unique and embrace what brings us together. Our collective goal is to champion a culture of belonging where everyone feels valued and respected.

Development – We believe equipping you with support and development opportunities is an essential part of delivering a remarkable employment experience.

Community Involvement – Be an essential part of our core purpose—to improve the health of the people and communities we serve.

Hear more from our team members about why UnityPoint Health is a great place to work at https://dayinthelife.unitypoint.org

Overview

This position plays an important role in the lab interacting with patients and nursing personnel. It is a non-credentialed position that supports preanalytical, analytical and post analytical laboratory workflows. Responsibilities include all the following: 1) registration, 2) inpatient, outpatient or outreach phlebotomy, 3) sample processing/aliquoting/prepping for transport/testing and 4) performs CLIA waived testing.

Responsibilities

Pre-Analytic workflows

• Greets everyone with a pleasant and professional manner, using patient experience best practice guidelines (AIDET, 5/10 Rule and No-Point, etc.)
• Identifies patients and samples using two patient identifiers, always labeling samples in the presence of the patient.
• Performs medical venous and capillary blood collections independently for patients of all ages within specified safety parameters, timelines and pace.
• Performs sample receiving, accessioning, processing, aliquoting, preparation for transport and/or delivery to testing areas.
• Utilizes supply items in a cost-effective manner, recognizing when to reorder and assisting with unpacking and/or restocking items.
• Achieves basic understanding of lab tests to answer patient questions in an easy to understand way.

Analytic workflows

• Performs CLIA waived testing on medical samples in accordance with manufacturer specifications using good laboratory practice.
• Works efficiently with the workflow and workload.
• Documents routine instrument maintenance; elevates non-routine issues to management.

Post-Analytic workflows

• Follows appropriate reporting protocols including critical value reporting.
• Monitors pending logs and work queues and resolves pending tests and registration errors.
• Prepares and logs samples for proper storage and retention.

Committed Team

• Prioritizes work in the best interest of the patient, sharing the work with team members.
• Assists with training new employees and students, being helpful and supportive in their teaching.
• Attends department huddles, staff meetings and other required training.
• Checks emails regularly for huddle minutes and important communications relevant to assignment.

Qualifications

• High School graduate or equivalent.
• Writes, reads, comprehends and speaks fluent English.
• Multicultural sensitivity.
• Microsoft Office – basic computer skills.
• Customer/patient focused.
• Basic knowledge of computer systems used on analyzers, Sunquest and EPIC.
• Critical thinking skills using independent judgment in making decisions.
• Demonstrates knowledge of computer programs for patient identification, registration, order, and sample tracking.
• Demonstrates basic knowledge of computer programs for reporting test results.
• Demonstrates knowledge that patient and workplace safety is a priority by preventing errors, accidents and infections and reporting potential or actual concerns immediately.