the same long rant from my space, so you other fools can enjoy
So for the last few days, (how ever long this damned week has been) I have gotten to argue with our glorious army. It all started over their want to train the AML soldiers in classic procedures (ie. pH, conductivity, Alkalinity and so on) Well, our team wasn't so much asked as told that we were going to have to take on a new person and re-arrange our scheduals to ensure that she will be trained. As I sat there listening to this speech about how this will benifit both teams and apparently create peace in the middle east, I began to think, thats a dirty dirty lie. Our team decided that our col. and the AML col got together and in an attempt to look good to their bosses, are trying to do some "cross training" (here meaning a mythical entity (much llike a unicorn) that people believe will help the overall mission of many teams, but instead is really just a stick in the ass of all the people who are directly involved). After this marvelous planning, they told us about it and told us to get it done. Ahhh, direction. So we make space in the schedual, get sent an AML (who we were told, has a basic lab knowledge) and were told that we have her for 6 months, 5 days a week, keep her busy. Now, the CLS (classics) lab doesn't normally have enough work to keep Sara and me busy for a week (why we work on 2 teams) let alone a third who whole mission in life is to work the 1 maybe 2 samples we get in every week. So, after much arguing about how I am not a babysitter, they get paied better, the knock it down to 3 days a week, still a lot but I'll live.
So I begin to train and quickly learn that the military and I disagree on what "basic lab knowledge" means. I took it to mean someone who understands how to pipet, read a graduated cylander and noticed expiration dates on chemicals. The military means one who has in fact, seen a lab. Sigh. Well, that consumes the first week of lessons. We slowly start progressing through the test. She gets to read SOP's, watch me run samples, then practice, then go proficient and finally she gets to run samples. As she watches she jots down notes in her notebook. She starts going proficient. The schedualing gets harder because what test she isn't proficient in, I can't run unless she is there to watch, so I have to wait till she runs her test to run mine. At some point, she tells me that she is only suppose to be here for 6 weeks. So I let me team leader know, it works its way up the chain and back down, 6 months.
Continuing training, I head off to Florida for a little bit (a small spring break for me) and when I come back its the end of the month and time for inventory. I notice that we are incredibly low on some things and ask AML about it. She said that she was having problems with some of the tests and went through a lot of our stock. Ok, did you tell someone. No. So I then told her to go tell the team leader, and she leaves. Later on I go to drop off my data to the team leader and ask if AML told her about our dire need to more detergents vial. No. When AML was asked, again, why she told no one, she responded with, well Mary Jo wasn't in her office. So as months roll by we learn that AML has no concept of expiration dates (since she doesn't know how to make up the standards, she doesn't tell anyone when they reach their exp date, and just keeps using them till we figure it out) no ability to tell others when key chemicals are running low (I've had to kick up my monthly inventory to weekly now) and not telling us when the hazardous waste bottles are full ( I don't know where the waste is going, and I have taught her how to set up a new bottle)
She has now started to pull back on her run of samples. We get samples in, we have holding times to meet, she sits in front of her computer and plays. So the next day I have to bust my ass to get the samples done within holding time. Mary Jo has since told me that AML is pulling her out in 2 weeks (bringing her time with us to almost 3 months) that she probably is slacking cuz she knows shes done (like a student). We got this information after our boss had to call them and ask why she wasn't showing up (apparently she has AML things to do this week, but she didn't think to say anything, nor did her boss) She also likes to mess up the standards (they have to be within +- 10% of the actual value) and consistantly I am being handed her papers back and asked to verify (which here means, redo the sample run)
So to wrap up this increasingly long story, I have spent the last few days arguing (yelling) at the military for taking their mightier than thou attitude with our team and explaining (still means yelling) that they will wait until I am ready to have another batch of incompentent fools in my lab.
So I begin to train and quickly learn that the military and I disagree on what "basic lab knowledge" means. I took it to mean someone who understands how to pipet, read a graduated cylander and noticed expiration dates on chemicals. The military means one who has in fact, seen a lab. Sigh. Well, that consumes the first week of lessons. We slowly start progressing through the test. She gets to read SOP's, watch me run samples, then practice, then go proficient and finally she gets to run samples. As she watches she jots down notes in her notebook. She starts going proficient. The schedualing gets harder because what test she isn't proficient in, I can't run unless she is there to watch, so I have to wait till she runs her test to run mine. At some point, she tells me that she is only suppose to be here for 6 weeks. So I let me team leader know, it works its way up the chain and back down, 6 months.
Continuing training, I head off to Florida for a little bit (a small spring break for me) and when I come back its the end of the month and time for inventory. I notice that we are incredibly low on some things and ask AML about it. She said that she was having problems with some of the tests and went through a lot of our stock. Ok, did you tell someone. No. So I then told her to go tell the team leader, and she leaves. Later on I go to drop off my data to the team leader and ask if AML told her about our dire need to more detergents vial. No. When AML was asked, again, why she told no one, she responded with, well Mary Jo wasn't in her office. So as months roll by we learn that AML has no concept of expiration dates (since she doesn't know how to make up the standards, she doesn't tell anyone when they reach their exp date, and just keeps using them till we figure it out) no ability to tell others when key chemicals are running low (I've had to kick up my monthly inventory to weekly now) and not telling us when the hazardous waste bottles are full ( I don't know where the waste is going, and I have taught her how to set up a new bottle)
She has now started to pull back on her run of samples. We get samples in, we have holding times to meet, she sits in front of her computer and plays. So the next day I have to bust my ass to get the samples done within holding time. Mary Jo has since told me that AML is pulling her out in 2 weeks (bringing her time with us to almost 3 months) that she probably is slacking cuz she knows shes done (like a student). We got this information after our boss had to call them and ask why she wasn't showing up (apparently she has AML things to do this week, but she didn't think to say anything, nor did her boss) She also likes to mess up the standards (they have to be within +- 10% of the actual value) and consistantly I am being handed her papers back and asked to verify (which here means, redo the sample run)
So to wrap up this increasingly long story, I have spent the last few days arguing (yelling) at the military for taking their mightier than thou attitude with our team and explaining (still means yelling) that they will wait until I am ready to have another batch of incompentent fools in my lab.