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Laboratory Assistant Jobs
Laboratory Assistant pay and benefits
A laboratory runs on turnaround times, and the assistant gets a specimen from the door to the analyzer inside one. Hospital and reference labs both hire for it, and it's the usual way into a laboratory without a degree.
Median Salaryof Laboratory Assistant
No data yet
Top Benefitsof Laboratory Assistant
- Bereavement leave33%
- Dental insurance33%
- Disability insurance33%
- Health insurance33%
- Identity theft protection33%
What a lab assistant is allowed to run
Federal law sorts tests by complexity and sets who may perform each tier. Waived tests carry no federal personnel requirement, so an assistant may run them unless the state says otherwise. Moderate complexity has several routes, the lowest a high school diploma plus documented training. High complexity has its own list: a degree in a laboratory science from associate level up, 60 semester hours of science credit plus documented training, or a 50-week military laboratory course. That's the tier employers fill with credentialed technicians and scientists.
Laboratory Assistant jobs by state
1More laboratory roles
3Your questions about laboratory assistant jobs, answered
- What does a laboratory assistant do?
Everything that happens to a specimen before it's tested. Receiving and accessioning it into the system, checking it against the order, spinning and aliquoting, sorting to the right department and loading racks, plus sending referrals out and filing what comes back. The laboratory can't start work until this is right.
- Is laboratory assistant the same as specimen processor?
Employers use the two words for one job, and specimen processor, accessioner, laboratory aide and laboratory support technician all reach this page. What shifts between them is the balance of processing, clerical work and stocking, so the duty list tells you more than the title does.
- What happens if a specimen is labeled wrong?
Accessioning stops it. The rule is 2 identifiers matching the requisition, usually name and date of birth, and laboratory staff don't fix somebody else's label: the tube is rejected and redrawn, because a mislabeled one puts a result on the wrong patient's chart. Blood bank is stricter, since a patient's ABO group has to be established twice before type-specific blood goes out, which many hospitals settle with a second draw and a dedicated armband.
