Tammye Mitchell | Behind the Mask Employee Spotlight
4/19/2021
Behind the Mask with Tammye Mitchell
Lab Tech Assistant/Phlebotomist
In celebration of Medical Laboratory Professionals Week, we’re spending this week celebrating all of our hardworking lab technicians who get the lab results you need when it matters most!
Today’s Behind the Mask employee is Tammye Mitchell, a lab tech assistant and phlebotomist here at Newberry Hospital!
You may recognize Tammye from having your blood drawn by her over the past 5 years. From the ER to OB, Outpatient surgery, and recovery, there’s no area of the hospital in which Tammye hasn’t worked!
Read on to learn more about what it’s like to be such a critical part of the Newberry team.
What does a day in your position typically look like?
I start my day around 4:45 am, drawing blood from out and in-house patients. I can have as many as 8 to 24+ patients. After the morning run, I then start receiving outpatients for blood work. When I am working in the lab, I handle all the drop-offs, which include all the departments, but mainly ER, outpatient surgery, and outside the hospital. I register, receive, and order the blood work and then place them on the analyzers for the tests to run. I also get called to different departments for difficult sticks, but I enjoy the challenge and being able to get a difficult draw.
What do you like about working at Newberry Hospital?
What I love most is that we are a small hospital, but a good hospital. It feels like you are working with friends instead of co-workers. Some hospitals are so busy that they do not have time to spend a few extra moments with a patient - seeing how they are, if they need anything, etc. I love that we are not so rushed to get to the next patient that we forget the patient in front of us.
What is something about your job that people may not know?
I have to go on codes (cardiac arrest) in case they need immediate blood work taken. This is one of the hardest parts of the job. You can witness heartbreaks, but you can also witness miracles.
What is a fun fact about you many people may not know?
I have been sky diving twice, and I was born on leap year.
What do you like to do when you are not working?
Getting out of town and going hiking or just relaxing at our cabin.
If you could say one thing to Americans who aren’t frontline workers, what would it be?
You do not see what I see. I have seen people struggling to breathe, patients on ventilators for weeks, patients dying after just seeing them moments ago, so, please wear a mask. There are many vulnerable people out there, and it is the least you can do to protect others.
How has your job changed during the pandemic?
It has definitely been more stressful. In the beginning, having to go into the room of a Covid patient was a little unnerving, and it also takes a lot more time. I have to put on all the proper PPE (personal protective equipment), which is hot and uncomfortable. There have also been good changes during all of this. All the departments were able to come together and work as a team. Not that we didn’t do this already, but I think it made us better. There were some challenges in the beginning for sure, but it was a “we are all in this together” moment, and I think we really met that challenge. I believe it has made us a better hospital moving forward.