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A typical shift

Start by running quality control on every analyzer before a single patient result goes out. Then samples arrive continuously: blood counts, chemistry panels, cultures to read from yesterday. You check results that look wrong, repeat them, and phone the ward immediately when something is dangerous. In between, an instrument breaks and you fix it, because nobody else will. Twelve hour shifts are common, the lab runs overnight and through holidays, and the pace is set by how sick the hospital is that day.