When I was working in Quebec, most med techs in hematology and chemistry were also doing at least some phlebotomy, but it depends on the hospital. Microbiology and blood bank techs usually didn’t have to. I’m not sure what the situation is in the rest of Canada. Here in the US, you can get a phlebotomy certification by itself and not be a med tech, and so generally you won’t see people leaving the lab to collect blood, although YMMV as usual.
Interesting - very interesting. I looked up some local classes, and apparently there are online classes I can take to re-qualify for being a medical lab tech. Lots to think about. 
Ugh. Misys. Craptacular. I just had flashbacks.
So, TIL about the TN status thing. Huh. Still no deal cause the GF would not qualify. Did you write the American MT licensing tests?
I wrote the exams and I’m officially an MT(ASCP). Well, I think it’s CLS now instead of MT. Or something. The exam wasn’t too bad, but the damn Visa Screen people made me do the TOEFL because I studied in Quebec. Nevermind that I went to McGill and Dawson, which are as anglo as it gets, and all my communication with them and all my transcripts were in English. Sigh. But it’s over, and I’m in and I’m staying.
As to the GF who wouldn’t qualify… it’s easier to drag her with you if she’s a wife… just sayin’… 
A couple of things to consider. If you only plan to work for another year, it might be better just to ride it out.
Sure, you can feel bad about leaving them short staffed. But utimately, it’s not your problem if they run things so lean they can’t bear the loss of a single employee. If that’s the case, they should treat their people so well they wouldn’t want to leave.
There is, of course, always aprehension about changing jobs, no matter how bad your current position is. In any new job there is always a period of learning and that can be stressful. You could be going into a situation that’s even more fucked up. And chances are, you probably have learned to work the system wherever you are. A new job means a new system with new rules to learn.
I thought about that. A lot.
The problem is, it’s not just about the stressful work. I sort of enjoy the pressure, most of the time. I get a bit of a rush knowing I just helped keep someone alive because I was able to get enough units up to the OR to replace everything the patient was losing. It’s mostly the hours and the attitude. I can’t keep doing evening shift. It’s making me crazy. Coming home at midnight means I never get to go to dinner, never have time to make a decent dinner (and I love to cook), never get to see friends or call my mother except on the weekend. I only see my husband for a couple of hours a day.
I had a chance to move to the day shift, a few months ago, but someone with more seniority had already put in for it, so it wasn’t going to happen. Also, the day shift environment is much more toxic thanks to one really nasty employee who no manager has been able to keep under control. The day shift, mostly because of Bitchy McHorrible’s influence, tends to be petty and gossipy and critical of everything and everyone. Unfortunately, it affects me on the evening shift because I find myself wondering whether I’ve made any insignificant mistakes that the day shifters will find and go to the boss about. For example, our protocol is to always have a platelet unit available in case of a trauma. We get a platelet delivered every two days, around midnight. If I get in at 3 and see we’re out of platelets, and one is supposed to get in at midnight, what should I do? If I order one, and we end up having too many and throwing one out, the day shift techs will write me up for wasting product. That happened, and the boss ended up calling me into the office to lecture me, and even though I pointed to the SOP and said look, I’m supposed to have one available, she pointed out the words “when possible” and told me I should have just waited for the midnight shipment, since I didn’t have a patient need. Um… the whole reason for having one around is for unexpected patient need! :smack: Oh, and I guarantee you that if I had not ordered one, and we had a crisis in labor and delivery and needed a platelet and there wasn’t one handy, it would have been my ass on the line.
That stuff was really getting to me, and while I realize that it’s partly my fault for letting it get to me, that doesn’t change the result. I’m already primed with stress every night at work, so I’m more susceptible to that bullshit. My supervisor is trying really hard to turn things around and improve the atmosphere, but it’s just been like that for so long. It pushes good new techs away.
My option was to tough out the evening shift for another year or two, hoping to either get pregnant and come back to part-time work, or to have Bitchy McHorrible retire or die on the job so I could move to day shift, or I could look elsewhere. And, well, elsewhere called me for an interview, and this new job is going to be good for me, I think. My supervisor knows that I would consider coming back for a day shift if the environment changes, but for now I’m going to try something new and see how it feels.
I’m already excited about it - I just got the email telling me where to go for orientation on my first day.