Job Description

External Applicants Earn up to $10,000 Sign on Bonus!

Work Shift

Day

Scheduled Weekly Hours

40This position supports Mercy's philosophy of patient centered care by providing timely, high quality surgical pathology service. The Histologist is responsible for specimen accessioning, embedding, microtomy, and staining on a variety of sample types.

Job Duties/Essential Functions

• Job Duties

  • Ensure that accurate and clinically relevant information is communicated with patients, their families, and co-workers at hand offs and other times as needed. Take all measures necessary to ensure that the appropriate and involved parties have communicated necessary information in order to allow for the best possible patient outcome

  • Properly identifies patients and samples during the pre-analytical, analytical, and post-analytical phases of testing

  • Performs specimen accessioning and gross set-up

  • Performs high-quality embedding and microtomy

  • Performs staining, including H&E, special stains, ISH, and immunohistochemical staining

  • Maintains, troubleshoots, and resolves issues with protocols and instruments

  • Assists in cytology preparation, including GYN and non-GYN specimens

  • Assists in frozen section activities with the pathologists

  • Communicates effectively and professionally with physicians, nurses, other medical personnel, patients, and families

  • Prioritizes workload to ensure timely reporting of results

  • Maintains and improves skills by participating in at least one continuing education activity annually

  • Actively seeks and identifies opportunities for process improvement

  • Assists in procedure writing, updating, and validating

  • Acts as a resource for laboratory medicine information to providers and others

  • Uses laboratory information system access information, enter results, and generate reports

  • Educates and trains HTL and HT students

• Follows Mercy's safety guidelines, carries out job-specific safety duties and responsibilities, and promptly reports any unsafe conditions, situations, incidents and injuries.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Knowledge of laboratory protocols and procedures

• Knowledge of regulatory requirements, including CAP, COLA, CLIA, TJC, and FDA

• Ability to work quickly and efficiently under pressure without sacrificing quality

• Ability to multi-task, prioritize, and work with interruptions

• Skill to use standard laboratory instrumentation

• Skill to use the laboratory information system (LIS)

• Ability to recognize and correct problems with quality control

• Ability to recognize problems and troubleshoot laboratory equipment

• Ability to be detail-oriented

• Ability to complete appropriate documentation and paperwork clearly and completely

Professional Experience

• One year hospital laboratory experience preferred.

Education

• High School diploma or equivalent required.

• Associate or bachelor's degree in histology, biological, or chemical science strongly preferred.

Licensure, Certification, Registration

• None required

• HT(ASCP) or HTL(ASCP) strongly preferred

Pay Rate Type

Hourly

Mercy is an independent, community-based organization supporting the Cedar Rapids area for over 120 years.

Mercy is an equal-opportunity employer. We value diversity, equity, and inclusion and therefore evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, ethnicity, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, civil union status, parental status, religion, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, and other legally protected characteristics.