Today's journal prompt!

I really need to head to bed, so I'll have to add an image description tonight, I'm sorry.

Credit to @reddeaddesolation for the prompt!

Sorry for not getting to this last night; work was busy!

ID: Two pictures of white journal pages covered with dark green cursive writing in inconsistent lines. Behind the pages, the black and aqua striped cover lining and black cover binding can be seen.

Transcript:

"January 27, 2022

Prompt: Write about your work.

Where do I start? I work in a hospital laboratory. All night long, tubes of blood and other body fluids arrive in the front. Most of them are spun in a high-speed centrifuge to separate the cells from the liquid, though some are left unaltered. From there, what happens next depends on which department the specimen is destined for, although in almost all cases it's headed for some kind of machine, an analyzer.

In the Chemistry department, plasma or serum is tested for concentration of various biochemical components, such as potassium or cholesterol.

In the Hematology department, unseparated blood is observed for the quantity and characteristics of its cellular components.

In Coagulation, separated and unseparated blood is tested on its characteristics of clotting.

Finally, in Urinalysis, urine is measured for the presence and quantity of various chemical components, and it is observed for the presence and quantity of various microscopic components.

A vital part of the job, in all departments, is calling nurses to notify them of critically abnormal test results. These can be relatively minor in scope—for example, we expect to see elevated creatinine in patients undergoing kidney dialysis—or they can be important to life-saving treatment—such as a prolonged bleed time in a patient scheduled for surgery." / end ID

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I had no idea how to end this, so I just stopped cold. 😅