CHELSEA PARSONS: Hello, everyone. Welcome. Thank you for joining. We're looking forward to this OneLab Network event today. We'll get started in just a minute. I'll give everyone a chance to join in. Thank you for joining again. We'll get started in just a second. 

OK, looks like we've got lots of folks on the line, so let's go ahead and get our network events started. Hello, everyone. My name is Chelsea Parsons, and I am a consultant with Guidehouse, supporting CDC's OneLab Initiative. I have a couple of notes about the webinar before we get started today. If you have any technical issues throughout the session, we'll be monitoring our inbox. It's onelab@cdc.gov. That's onelab@cdc.gov. 

If you have questions throughout the presentation, you can input those into the Q&A. So in the bottom ribbon of your screen, you'll see a Q&A function. That's where you can submit questions about the presentation to our presenter. We'll be monitoring those throughout and making sure that we tally them up for the Q&A session we'll have at the end. 

If for any reason, we don't get to your question today, we'll try to hold on to those and respond to you via email as long as you do not submit them anonymously, and you can always email our inbox again at OneLab at cdc.gov if questions arise later on. Note that I've posted the link to live captions in the chat. So if you would like to access live captions today, those will be available during the entire event. The only thing to note is that if you're going to use those, you'll want to keep that page pulled up as well as this webinar itself. 

All right, let's take a look at the agenda for today. So we're going to start the session by talking about some new and relevant OneLab resources. We'll introduce you to our special presenter for today. We'll get into the main presentation, the laboratory onboarding template, which was pilot tested by the Guam Public Health Laboratory, and then we'll get to that Q&A section that I mentioned before. we'll try to get through all or as many questions as we can. If we have some time, we might talk through some discussion questions as a group, as well, and then we'll tell you about some upcoming events that we have going on. 

So something else we have been doing in our events lately, and you may have noticed, is turning on the chat so that you guys are able to interact with one another as well. So we'll be leaving the chat feature open today for your engagement. But just a few things to keep in mind when utilizing the chat box, please keep in mind the appropriate rules of engagement. You can feel free to use the chat to connect with others by reacting to what you're hearing, sharing experiences, and asking questions to fellow participants. 

However, if you have a question for the presenter regarding the content, please use the Q&A function, not the chat. Please engage with respect and professionalism. Any inappropriate language, improper conduct, or any form of discrimination may result in removal from the webinar, and please ensure your comments are relevant to the topic. If a moderator does give you direction regarding chat behavior, please comply accordingly. We hope that you use this chat to interact with one another to talk about what we're chatting about in today's topic, but we don't want it to become a distraction. 

So lastly, please notify moderators if you experience any technical difficulties or observe any disruptive behavior. So now, I'm going to turn it over to our OneLab Network lead, Miss Alicia Branch, to share some of our new and relevant resources and introduce us to today's speaker. Alicia? 

ALICIA BRANCH: Thanks, Chelsea. Before the main presentation, I would like to take a moment to share some helpful OneLab Network resources. Today our speaker will share her experience using the customizable CDC Laboratory Onboarding Template, which can be used to develop a structured and streamlined process for onboarding new laboratory employees. Scan the QR code on the screen to refer to the template throughout this webinar. Next slide, please. 

We also want to highlight the OneLab Basic Microscopy Microlearning videos, where you can learn or not just learn but refresh your knowledge of the fundamentals of microscopy. It talks about how to clean the microscope, how to focus the microscope, illumination, the components of a microscope as well as calibration and how to set up the microscope. Next slide, please. 

If you have not already, we ask that you go to OneLab REACH, which is a customizable learning management system for laboratory professionals and our testing community to create a free account. You can create this account by scanning the QR code on the screen. Next slide, please. 

Now, I would like to read a couple of disclaimers, and then we will introduce today's speaker. Slide decks may contain presentation material from a panelist who are not affiliated with CDC presentation content. From external panelists, it may not necessarily reflect CDC's official position on the topics covered. Next slide, please. CDC, our planners, or our presenters wish to disclose that we do not have any financial interest or other relationships with the manufacturers of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services, or commercial supporters. Next slide, please. 

And I am excited to introduce our presenter for today, Dr. Mugdha Vasireddi. She is a laboratory director for the Guam Public Health Laboratory. She's contracted to Guam by the Chickasaw Nation Industries in support of the CDC TAP program. Mugdha has been overseeing the overall management and administration of the Guam Public Health Laboratory since July of 20 2021. 

Guam hasn't had a full-time lab director for the past 20 years, and with the help of the city of CDC funding, she's provided support and assistance to Guam as their remote full-time laboratory director. Mugdha has over 13 years of experience working in clinical diagnostic laboratories, academia, biopharma industry and is eager to expand her-- expand the Guam Public Health Laboratory Capabilities. 

She's excited to share the recent new employee onboarding process implemented with the help of the CDC OneLab Laboratory Onboarding Template. Our presenter for today is Dr. Mugdha Vasireddi. 

MUGDHA VASIREDDI: Hello, everyone. It is my pleasure to be here today to speak about our experience implementing onboarding manuals at the Guam Public Health Laboratory. Next slide, please. So when onboarding a new employee, it is absolutely important that there is effective communication between the employee and the hiring manager and the partners-- lab partners. 

It's also essential that, in this case, if it is a laboratory, that they have an employee orientation-- 

[AUDIO OUT] 

MUGDHA VASIREDDI: --and to navigate the lab and their duties as well as the functions of the lab. A lab tour is a must as you all know, the entry, exit, what are the restricted areas, how to enter them, what is the PPE used. So a lab tour that gives you a complete understanding of the functioning of a lab is also quite important in that first few days of the new hire onboarding. 

It is also, I think, extremely important to have a mentor, not in the form of just a supervisor but also a lab partner who could help them on a daily basis for the first couple of weeks to be able to adjust to the environment so that there are no mistakes made and there is always-- they are always protected, the patient information is protected, and also the coworkers are protected. So it's important to set them up or pair them up with a lab partner who can help them navigate their duties as well as the lab responsibilities.

It is essential to give a learning time for each individual because there are people who learn pretty quickly, and then there are some who take a little bit of time. But allowing them to take their time-- a reasonable amount of time to be able to understand day-to-day happenings will really help the person integrate into the organization. And then, eventually, giving them a learning assessment also helps you to understand where they are at their understanding level and how well they can now do their function job duties and responsibilities. Next slide, please. 

So when we just started, when I just started working with Guam, what we had basically in place in Guam Public Health Laboratory is the employee handbook. This employee handbook applies to everybody that comes under the Department of Public Health and Social Services. So this handbook is a very general handbook that was provided to every employee that is onboarded. 

Now, this handbook does go through a lot of important details that are very specific to the agency as a whole but not the lab specifically. Then, eventually, the lab supervisor or a lab partner usually will give them a lab tour, explain all the do's and don'ts of the lab, and also help them with some of the few basic things that they need to be aware of while working in the lab. 

However, we did not have a specific onboarding template just for the lab. So for the most part, in statewide, you would see that in a lab there is a good amount of individuals who have had experience working in a lab previously that would come into the state lab or local labs, and they would have some experience working in a different lab. So if it is a clinical diagnostic lab, maybe they do come with some experience that gives them a basic understanding of what a clinical lab entails. 

However, with Guam, we noticed in the past couple of years, we have most of our staff retired we have expanded so much that now we are bringing in new workforce and most of the workforce is fresh out of school workforce who only have experience working in most likely a research lab. And we all research labs are completely different from a clinical lab. 

So keeping into-- considering the demographic of the Guam staff was also extremely important for us because that allows us to understand what understanding they, the new staff, have. And then, what I did was-- so all of this began when Alicia reached out to me at one of the meetings I attended and introduced me to OneLab Network and the resources that we could actually available for us to utilize in the lab. 

And so, it was a great opportunity for me in the first place to be able to have something that really helps to set it up without having to start everything from scratch. So having a template really helped me to go about thinking what needs to go into our own manual using that template. And I'm pretty sure the template-- the link to the template is in the QR code, and that I would encourage everybody to go through it and see if your organization has something already in place like that. That's very good. 

If you don't or if you don't have a few things that are actually in the template, that might actually help you introduce some of them into your organizational manual. So having that template really helped me when I went back to when I went back to Guam on a site visit. I was able to interview my staff and find out what kind of training they've had. What is their understanding? What are their needs in terms of training? 

Would they want something that they are made aware because something is not understandable or something happens, and they're like, Oh, I need to do this, or do they want something where they can go and refer to in case they have a question or a doubt or even sometimes when they are all by themselves and unable to reach out someone immediately? So by having that interview with the various members of the staff, I was able to come up with a plan by using the template to set up our own onboarding manual. Next slide, please. 

So now, I briefly will go over what the CDC Lab Orientation Template consists of. So the CDC Lab Orientation Template is categorized into different subcategories, and I like them that way because each one explains-- each one tells you like, Oh, what do I need to put in the first subinterval category, what do I put in the second subcategory, and where do I get this information from? 

So first, the general introduction is a good introduction because everybody needs to know if they are-- because Guam Public Health Laboratory is part of the DPHS agency, so it is important to know what are our commitments to the community. What is DPHS's commitments to the community? 

By the way, DPHS is Department of Public Health and Social Services. And we cover a lot of different divisions under that big umbrella, so it's important to know who are our partners. Who do we reach out to when we have something that we need to deal with a patient diagnosis? So these are the important things that should go into a general introduction of your lab manual just to give an idea-- the mission statement, just to give an idea of why we are here and what do we do and what services we provide. 

Next, the important thing is introducing your division. So this template although is mostly for laboratory you can see that introduction to your division could include what are the specifics that are very specific that you would like for your division members to or staff members to follow. 

So for example, a laboratory should have their mission and vision, included in it because we serve as a public health laboratory. We serve the community, and it is very important that patient health and their diagnosis come first in our ability to do this-- provide this service. 

And also, it is important that we also make sure that we provide a quality service. So it is always important to know what is your objective, why are you here every day, and then to know the organizational structure of the lab. That allows you to go to the person when you have a need for-- you a specific need. 

And you all know if you're under a regulatory body like CLIA, you know that an organizational chart is a must in order to make sure that you have all the important people that need to be there in order to be clear, registered, and certified. So this organizational chart also provides you with that information. And like I said, Guam had a very young demographic joining in who do not know do not have an idea about what CLIA is. Why do we need an organizational chart, how are they fitting to that organizational chart, and who fits into that organizational chart and why is it important? 

For example, if it's a high-complexity lab, you all know that without a technical supervisor, we will get dinged on in our inspection. So they need to know why there is this technical supervisor, why there is a general supervisor, and if it is something that a person holds both responsibilities, how they do it. This also allows them to understand how they grow in the organization itself. 

So if they have plans to move up, they know what kind of licenses they need to get, what kind of certification they need to get. So an organizational chart provides all that information that they would have at their hands in order to be able to grow. And then, there is a very important item, which is the code of conduct and ethics because for every lab staff member, they have to remember it's extremely important that patient comes first and the patient diagnosis comes first. 

And for that to happen, we have to be very, very good and manage the quality really well in order to provide the best service possible because at the end of the day, their health is what matters to us, the health of the community and the health of the individual. So this has to be reiterated. It is not something-- there is no yes or no answer when you're testing a patient. It has to be done correctly. So that the correct information is relayed to the health care providers. 

Then, as a laboratorian, we all know that dress code is extremely important for safety and also to prevent any kind of contamination or any interruption or especially when it comes to your own safety. So it is important to, again, reiterate that the dress-- 

[AUDIO OUT] 

MUGDHA VASIREDDI: --of things in the lab that will allow that will cause-- pose a risk to not only you but also-- maybe also to your coworkers. So it's extremely important that we make sure that the dress code, the safety and security aspects are also well adhered to and understood. 

So these all go under the introduction to the laboratory and then CDC also has position details subcategorized in this template. Position details are basically for each person. What is their position? What is their job? What are their job duties and all such duties? And that also helps in understanding what they need to do on a daily day to day basis and they have a clear understanding of that. The next important thing that's there is the training resources. 

This part of the template really, really helped us because we, as a lab, were very small three years ago before the pandemic. And when pandemic happened, we were able to expand so much, and that happened in 2009 too, where the first time we were able to do PCR was when influenza pandemic happened. 

So every time a pandemic happens, though it is such a bad thing, it's still also-- in a way, it helps the lab to expand because we get funding, we get leadership support, and all of this helps us to move forward. However, it also makes things go so fast when the pandemic is happening, you are trying to provide a service that is so fast and quick that some of the things just get lost. 

So one of those is-- one of those things is training. Training is absolutely important in every lab, and I have gone through different experiences in my life working for academia, working for CGRP labs, and also for clinical diagnostic labs. And one thing I've noticed is that there is nothing like enough training. Training is a continuous learning process. 

And so this template had put us into-- had helped us to understand what are our needs, what are Guam's needs to be able to add these training resources and every lab has different needs because, based on your testing, based on the samples you're testing, if you're a private lab, you might be very restricted to only toxicology or only molecular. But all of these training resources-- that you have to understand what works for you and implement them. 

And I think a training resource should also be something that should be done every year. You should provide this training every year as a means of annual refreshment because it's usually one time you do it. You do it, and then you forget. If you don't continuously do it, you tend to forget the most important thing. So I advise everyone to have-- we usually-- I used to do it, and we decided to do this moving forward in Guam too, that we'll have annual refreshment happening on lab days-- lab week in April. 

And this template also includes a standard operating procedures and policies section, which you all know that we have an SOP for an SOP, like how to do an SOP. And so this is a good place to introduce your staff to what are your standard operating procedures and policies are. And then, eventually, you should have all the contact information, which will also be in a accessible place in the lab, but having a reference like that really helps when somebody needs some information. 

They're away from the location where the contact information is posted, but if they can refer to it, this would be really helpful for them in future to reach out to the right people. If you're a larger organization, you have a lot of-- 

[AUDIO OUT] 

MUGDHA VASIREDDI: Can I have the next slide, please? 

ALICIA BRANCH: I think that there is maybe a delay in your internet. You may want to try turning off your camera and see if that helps. 

MUGDHA VASIREDDI: OK, I will do that. Thank you. 

ALICIA BRANCH: You're welcome. 

MUGDHA VASIREDDI: Yes, so then what aspects of the CDC onboarding manual have we actually used to incorporate into the Guam Lab Onboarding Manual? We have utilized the general introduction because it gives a very good understanding for the lab member who joins us, that we are a part of a bigger agency, and that we have bigger objectives and goals as a whole that we need to keep in mind. 

And then, definitely, the part where introduction to the laboratory where we have utilized all of those subcategories into our implemented into our onboarding manual and training resources. Like I said, training resources are absolutely important for us because, like I said, we-- when I had started working in the lab, I was not aware of any special training modules the lab members had to go through except for what they were trained on and on for competencies and things like that and then do's and don'ts in the lab. 

Of course, they know what they need to do, how to use PPE, but most of these things were incorporated into their wet lab training and not as much as an introduction to all of the things that are lab related as a training aspect then there is contact information we have utilized. Next slide, please. 

So what we have done or what items we have not included in the onboarding manual the two items we did not include is position details and standard operating procedures and policies. And the reason we have not included these two items in our manual is that position details. 

We set a different folder or record keeping for position details, the person's resume, their certifications, their trainings in a different record so that when inspections happen, it is easier to pull those things and that the manual itself provides an overview but not details of each and every individual when it is referred to. 

So for that reason, those position details are extremely important to have. We have separated that from our onboarding manual so that we have it in a separate place where we have all the employee training and certificate sections and education credentials. The other one that we also have removed from our manual is standard operating procedures and policies. And the reason for that is because we do have that already incorporated in our quality manual. 

Now, you will see a little bit of things that you will see in a quality manual you would also see in the introduction of the lab, but the introduction of the lab just gives you not too many details but details specific to just the laboratory policies. So for that reason, we have included code of ethics-- a code of conduct and ethics and dress code into the manual-- into the onboarding manual. Although, we do have that also included in our quality manual. 

And also, you have to remember some people end up doing a two-page quality manual-- quality management SOP, but some folks-- some labs have like 16-- 12 folders for each section of the quality management. So based on what your requirements are, I just added it into the onboarding manual so that there is one place where they can get quick reference from. Next slide, please. 

So what we have what I have noticed when we have implemented this onboarding template is that we had this huge opportunity for improvement. First of all, going through, the most important thing, like I said before, is assessing the needs of the laboratory training. I cannot stress enough how important laboratory training is for us to go about everyday activities without having an adverse event. 

It could be an event that's safety, it could be a security event, or it could be also as simple as not providing the right diagnosis because you have not followed your training correctly that caused contamination and that in turn caused a false negative or a false positive diagnosis. So understanding and assessing what our lab needed helped really a lot in putting together a training module. 

And we have included this in the training module because we wanted when the first time-- on the first day a new hire starts their job, we would like to give them this opportunity for few weeks to be able to finish this laboratory training. We don't want to rush them. I have known many a time, we had to go through reading a lot of information and taking a quiz in the end. 

And a lot of times, I've noticed that there are people who really went through the whole module, and it would take them eight hours or two days or three days before they came to the quiz. And there were people who just directly go to the quiz, do their assessment, things go wrong, they go back and do the assessment. They do the assessment like six times, seven times, and eight times. So it keeps-- because they think that it saves them time, but there's a lot of material in the training modules itself that you need to be aware of. 

So I think it is also important to not make your training material very laborsome in the sense that it shouldn't be too long, where it takes ages and ages to understand every aspect of it to go to the end and do an assessment. So I would prefer that you divide them into different sections of your training modules. So that the training modules are quick, and they're easy to understand. 

And also, I will suggest that please go through CDC online training resources that can be found, and they are extremely helpful if you are a lab that is small and have very few resources. For example, the lab that at Guam we have, we do not have a document control software tool yet. We are planning to-- we are adding it right now, which is iPassport, and iPassport does not give you training modules to buy sometimes at a cost. 

You can buy these modules from the Document Control lab if you're using lab MediaLab. It is possible to add some training modules, and you don't have to make your own training modules, but you have to pay extra money for that. So you have to understand if you are a low-resource lab, don't panic that you will have to buy something in order to keep doing this. CDC has a very good collection of important trainings that are necessary for the lab, and they are going to add few more things that are absolutely necessary while you're going through your training modules with your staff. 

Another thing I will say is there are a lot of freely available training modules quizzes that are available on the internet that you can look and make sure that the information that is presented there is actually good information and not anything incorrect, and then utilize them, modify them to use for your own training resources. 

And the manual also provides a basic understanding of laboratory services because every time you talk about the mission of the laboratory, the vision of the laboratory, always focus on what is the most important thing we, as laboratorians, need to provide. If you're working in a research lab, we are able to-- if you're working in a research lab your main goal is to provide good data, not-- sorry, provide data that is true, not just good or bad, but that is true. 

And that is your responsibility, to always provide data that is true to what your understanding is of what you have done so that somebody else can work on it. As a clinical laboratory, it is very important that, your service, you have to be true to your patients, and the quality of the work should reflect patient diagnosis. And so again, that helps you to understand how to manage your diagnosis in a quality manner. 

So why is quality management extremely important? Why do we even have a regulatory body overseeing a clinical laboratory? Because at the end of the day, you are responsible for a patient's health. So this also reiterates, especially for someone who comes fresh off of school that-- how important quality management is. It might be very cumbersome to follow all the rules and regulations of quality because everything you do has to be double-checked, triple-checked. 

And as I said training resources was extremely important for the lab and therefore it was important for us to go ahead and do that, then we emphasized a lot on biosafety and biosecurity. As we all know as a public health lab, if you're in a public health lab clinical lab or any other, even research lab, it is extremely important that you have a thorough understanding of safety and biosecurity for your own protection, for the protection of your co-workers, and also for your patient privacy. 

So again, patient privacy cannot be undermined at all. It is extremely important that we all pay attention to the patient privacy. That means we all should be aware of HIPAA and how it affects us, how it affects the patient, and this is one thing that is not just applicable to the laboratorian. It's applicable to almost all of the health-- [AUDIO OUT] 

ALICIA BRANCH: Mugdha, did we lose you again? 

MUGDHA VASIREDDI: Can you hear me now? 

ALICIA BRANCH: We can hear you now. 

MUGDHA VASIREDDI: Yes, I'm so sorry. I don't know what's going on. It's usually uninterrupted. I'm extremely sorry about that. 

ALICIA BRANCH: It's OK. 

MUGDHA VASIREDDI: If anybody has any questions or has lost some part of my presentation, please feel free to ask any questions, and I'll be able to answer all of them. Thank you so much. Can I have the next slide, please? 

So this is just to show-- if you can zoom in, that would be great. But this is just to show how we have set up a checklist. A checklist is totally important when you are actually going through all the information that you want them to understand or know. So we made a checklist that the new hire has to go through before they start working in the lab. 

So this checklist, I say I'm a checklist person and I prefer checklists for everything even for HR, even when you are starting your onboarding process, not just for the lab but the whole onboarding HR tasks, lab keys, and everything. I prefer a checklist because that allows not only you but your manager to know what aspect has been already relayed to you, was communicated to you, and what you need to know. 

So we have set up a checklist which includes that reading and understanding some of the manuals like the laboratory manual, the safety manual, the biosafety BMBI, having an Active Directory, knowing where it is, the IT requirements completing the LabCE and competency file. 

We also provide HIPAA. There's a HIPAA quiz that they need to finish and have it recorded. It will go into the employee records. We also have done a bloodborne pathogen protocol, but we have-- not really a protocol or policies, but we have not really set up a quiz for that. It's more of a read and understood kind of exercise. 

And it was important for us to go through that because when we come in, we all sometimes forget that the samples we receive can contain anything or nothing. So we don't know, so it's always very, very important that we keep we're cognizant of the sample we are testing should be protected from us, and also we should be protected from the sample itself. 

The PPE training was also very important. Centrifuge training is extremely important in a laboratory because centrifuges are known to cause aerosols if they are not properly used. Chemical fume hood safety, BSC II safety, laboratory safety training in general, fire hazard safety, these are the important safety trainings that every lab should have. 

And it's a great opportunity if you can actually go ahead and look for CDC resources. You'll find all of these resources from CDC, which has really helped us because, like I said, we are a low resource and procurement is a huge process. So having something available to us handy was extremely important. Next slide, please. 

So after we finished making this template, we finally analyzed how it has benefited us in order to say, like, OK, what do we need to add more to this as we grow into a bigger and with a higher-capacity lab. So the awareness of this lab needs and requirements was extremely important because most of this training was given in a way that-- as we go. It was not set up for them to have this all of this included in their training needs. 

So for me, having that awareness itself helped me to understand where we as a lab are at, how important this is for our lab staff, for them to not just know what their lab duties are but also to know what quality management systems they have to follow, what safety regulations they have to follow, what are the risks that they can encounter while working physical risks, and also risks that help us to ensure control setup in the lab.

So in a way, this orientation manual, although, it seems very simple and just to onboard people. It also helped us to understand what as a lab we need in order to make our lab a better, and a safer environment for everybody working in that environment. And then, what does a staff individual need from us? As a group, we can be stronger but as only as strong as the weakest person. 

So it is always important to be able to be aware where your staff is in the understanding, where your staff is in the awareness, and giving them the time and patience and treating them with empathy really helps in having everybody on the same page. When everybody is not on the same page, accidents happen, bad things happen, adverse things happen. And so it really was very important for us to have a clear understanding of laboratory policies beyond day-to-day activities. 

And so I would say that this online-- this onboarding template might look simple, might seem very simple for Guam. If you look at our manual, it might look very simple, and you might say, oh, we have all of these aspects in different places or the same place, or you might look at this and think, like, what else can I add to this? What else can I do to make it better?

And my first and foremost advice or recommendation would be talk to your staff. Have that communication with your staff. Like, what was your experience? Ask your staff from-- that has been here for 10 years, how was your onboarding experience at that time, and what do you think about now. What do we need to change? What would help you? That to come to the lab every day and feel safe and feel like what you're doing and not so confused. 

So I would say starting very small although we started very small. And although our manual looks very small, I think it's really helpful if you can expand it if you can set it up for the needs, your needs. And if you can have an understanding of how better how much you can improve. So take it as an opportunity to improve your existing onboarding manual. See what you need to add and just-- it helps you to be more cognizant of the needs of both the staff and the lab. 

With that, I would like to take-- I would like to finish my presentation and take any of your questions that you may have for me. Thank you so very much for this opportunity again. 

ALICIA BRANCH: Thank you. We'll take a few minutes to answer as many questions as possible. If you have a question, go ahead and put it in the Q&A, and we will do our best to answer it. If we don't get to your question today, we will be sure to answer it via email as long as you submit it using your name and not anonymous. 

Let's see let's start with some-- someone stated that they really did enjoy your checklist and wanted to know if you were actually going to provide that checklist-- if you could provide that checklist to them. 

MUGDHA VASIREDDI: It is part of the presentation. So when you look at the slide, just zoom it in and you be able to get that checklist. And I will recommend, though, having a checklist at the time of termination or if the staff is planning to move on, to have a good checklist for that as well because that will provide you-- like, to make sure that you have all the things that you need back from the staff and also the staff will know when they are done and have it signed off. Most likely, you have that in place, but I would just put it out there too as well. 

ALICIA BRANCH: OK. I would like for the participants to just put it in the chat. What resources is your lab currently using to onboard new hires, or do you have any? If you don't have anything, you can go ahead and state that as well. And then, you can also throw in there along with that add any current needs that you see or issues you see with onboarding a new employee. 

You did share some of your concerns that you all had with having new hires or those fresh out of school. I know for myself when I was fresh out of the lab I worked at night. I had no lab director in the lab with me. It really had me and another person who worked there at night. So being someone new, this definitely would be like something really good for someone to walk me through. 

MUGDHA VASIREDDI: Yes. I forgot to mention that but, yes. This is so helpful for especially people who work graveyard shift. I know this because I have been a part of a lab before where we actually had people coming in at 9 o'clock-- 9:00 PM, and they would work until 6:00 AM. And it is so hard because you do not have that many people. You do not have supervisors working at that time. 

And I have done this everywhere. I actually had stayed back. I have made sure that I stay, or I come around that time and make sure that they're comfortable. And I would suggest that every supervisor, please, if you could do this, spend that week with your staff, with your new staff who are working at odd hours because it really helps them to have that confidence that they're doing things right. And there is a huge question of biosafety and biosecurity and not just biosafety security, just in general safety security at that time. 

So I think, having this, keep in mind that you are accommodating people who are working at odd hours and help them. And I would say, as a supervisor, make it your duty, your checklist to be with them for the first one week, at least to just go through everything else. 

ALICIA BRANCH: Right, so how long would you say that it took you to actually customize it? 

MUGDHA VASIREDDI: The customization did not take that very long actually. It was very straightforward. And I promise you, you have all of these aspects somewhere in the lab. You have them. It's just that putting them all together. So the customization did not take us too long. All I did was-- what took long is implementation. And I'll say this because Guam being-- the problem was we had-- just when we were trying to implement it, we had a huge typhoon happening and everything was haywire. Everybody was helping other partners or providing services in a quick manner. And I will say-- 

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ALICIA BRANCH: I think I lost you. 

MUGDHA VASIREDDI: --happens. We're just going all over the place, and we're not putting it together. So when we finally did, the implementation time is what took long just because of how the situation was at in the lab. It's not because we couldn't implement it. It was because of other factors. But implementation didn't take long. I would say start with your original staff. 

Even if you don't have a new hire, have them go through this and have them ask you questions like-- or give you any recommendations, suggestions, and have them do all of those trainings so that they kind of feel safe and secure, and all of this can go into your training records. So I would say, even if you don't have a new staff, implement it as if you would implement it for a new staff. Do it as an exercise as a whole. 

ALICIA BRANCH: So did you find it the template user friendly? 

MUGDHA VASIREDDI: Yes, so because-- I'll give you an example. I like the template because it was direct. The questions were direct. Like, what should go under each category was direct, and it was-- like again, it itself was categorized, so it was easy. I also gave it to a couple of my colleagues who are not in the same division. They are in the epidemiology division, and they actually liked it. 

Some of it is lab related so they're like, oh, it's lab related, but we do like the concept of it. And I said, change it. Change it to how you want to do it. Like, say for example, we might have-- the code of conduct doesn't change, dress code doesn't change, the management of your documentation doesn't change. So there are a lot of aspects except for maybe sample safety and things like that. Everything else, security doesn't change. You still have to have everything locked up. Make sure that-- things like that.

So this template, I would suggest that everybody use it for their division if they can, if they don't have one. And honestly, having a template in my hand was what made my life easier because starting everything on your own, you don't know what goes in, you're thinking you're looking for resources. But having everything right in front of me, I just have to fill the blanks. So that was also-- I like-- I don't like to reinvent the wheel. If somebody has done it, please give it to me. 

So this is what OneLab Network has done, and I really like it. I do. And as long as you can provide us with more resources, I will use them all, basically because we are a low-resource laboratory and having that kind-- and we don't have that much workforce to-- we don't even have a quality management specialist. Everything is done by one person. So one person cannot do so many things, so having things like this makes it easier for us not to dwell on it for hours and hours or days together on it. 

ALICIA BRANCH: Yeah, I do definitely think that that's good you know especially with-- people think this new the workforce thing is a new thing. It's this was happening almost in the 80s. And so some of it, the people that are now in the lab, they were happening in the 80s. Now, what are we doing about it? I think that you just said it. 

If we're creating better documents and you know, [INAUDIBLE] has this concept of the consigner store, one good employee to 3. If you can get one good one with a great document, I think that we can really make the lab still survive and produce good, quality, sound testing results without error and so you're keeping our community safe. So I think that we can, and I'm glad that-- I know I bugged you a lot about this document, so I'm glad. 

MUGDHA VASIREDDI: No, thank you for doing that because that helps. Because most times you're like, oh, I'll start it because I have to do it. So that's why I say that, once I started it, it didn't take long. It was pretty good. I could finish it in a very, very short time. But I couldn't get my folks to send me some of the information, give me some of the information, only because they were going through the different aspects that were happening on the island. 

Other than that-- and I thank you so much, and I'm sorry if it was delayed because I know you've been-- and it should not be your job anyway because you're providing us the resource and we should be able to use it. But it also helps when you have something and somebody puts it to use. Then, you can get a feedback. It helps you what to improve and things like that. So I'm very thankful for all the opportunities. 

And I'm telling you, if you're a lab that don't know where to start, if you're new or if you don't have the resources, please go to CDC's website and you will find at least the basic resources. And for something you want more, I think if you reach out to them they will actually start putting in new resources like HIPAA. I think Alicia said HIPAA quiz and training. I found that on the internet with my searches, and I made sure everything is correct, and I added that to my module. But she did say that they will put in HIPAA and bloodborne pathogens. They will add those to the training needs because these two are absolutely necessary for a lab, I think, so that would be really helpful. 

ALICIA BRANCH: Yeah, So I will say that bloodborne pathogens should be coming out in the next couple of months or so. It has been a work of labor, and I think that everyone's going to find it very useful. It's a very good training as you stated you want the modules to be short with very informative, and I think that everyone will find that it definitely is that 

Also, that was a helpful thought. I'm glad you did say that because we do have a course that I have been really preaching about. It's labor intensive, and as a laboratory, when you're testing, you don't have the time to sit and take training. And I think that that's probably one of the sore things sore spots when it comes to training time, but I think definitely your idea of making lab week a perfect time for everybody to do refresher training. 

I know for a new employee that's different. When they come in they have quite a bit of time to do all the training. But when you are a seasoned employee and you have refresher training, I think that taking lab week is definitely a good thing to center your training around that time when you're actually celebrating, as well as refreshing your knowledge to make sure that you're staying safe. So I think that that's definitely. 

MUGDHA VASIREDDI: And you can make it fun. You can have whoever does most quizzes in a certain time or gets the highest number of points in the first go can get prizes. So just make it fun if you can, you know? 

ALICIA BRANCH: Yeah, I think that is. I mean, that's a great-- I mean, honestly, that is a great idea to do. And I have one other question I just want to ask you. Could you tell me, like, what did you really dislike about the template? Is there anything that you disliked? 

MUGDHA VASIREDDI: I will say right now I cannot pinpoint anything only because we didn't have one so having one helped, maybe as we are moving on. And anybody who's up here who thinks that because you can see the different categories I've put in and if you didn't like that, please let us know. Actually, do let us know. That way we know what maybe what needs to be added but it's a very I won't say it's a basic template. I will say it's a more easy-to-use template, you know? So 

At this point, I don't like-- I don't have any disliked points. Maybe the more we start adding, we can think like, oh, maybe we don't need this, or we don't need that. Why did we add this here? I just didn't use a couple of the categories like the SOP, Standard Operating Procedures and Policies and also the training position description because I feel like it fits better. 

Because we are making this one manual for everybody to use, position details will then bulk it up, and then you have to keep going back and forth. So I prefer that having in a separate thing. It's also easier to give it to our inspectors when they come in. So those two things, I would say-- well, I will say that SOPs is a good thing to have because everybody should have an understanding, but I wouldn't put the positions in there just because I don't want it to be specific to any one person so. 

And if you have a lot of people, it's a lot of information in one manual, so I would just separate that. But that's just me, so it could be anybody else would have actually liked that. But I would say, if anything, I would say that's the only one really, and that's not really a problem. So all right 

ALICIA BRANCH: Thank you again for presenting and to taking the time to actually using our template and giving us feedback. 

MUGDHA VASIREDDI: You're most welcome. Thank you. Thank you, actually, for the welcome. 

ALICIA BRANCH: OK, we are offering one PACE credit for today's webinar. To receive PACE credit, visit the link or use the passcode posted in the chat to complete the evaluation. Within two weeks, you will receive an email containing these instructions if you missed the link in the passcode. 

We would like to briefly highlight I-- just a moment. We'd like to briefly highlight an upcoming OneLab network event on February 6 at 12:00 PM Eastern Standard Time. This event is called managing burnout in a postcovid world. It will guide participants in developing strategies to cope with burnout, and will-- it'll be presented by Miss Nancy Lewis who is also a former medtech. The registration link is posted in the chat. Next slide, please. 

We would also like to invite you to register for the OneLab Summit. This is a free virtual event that connects laboratory professionals in real time to support and unify response to laboratory education and training needs. Attendance is open to anyone interested or involved in lab in the laboratory profession. Registration is now through the link in the chat. Next slide, please. 

As a reminder, the slides and audio recording of this event will be posted to our website within two weeks of today. Next slide, please. Lastly, I encourage you to utilize the OneLab Inbox to share your training needs and your feedback on OneLab-- with OneLab with us. 

We actually use a lot of your input for our event topics, and to get a better understanding of what the community needs. The OneLab email address is posted in the chat for easy access. And again, would like to say thank you for joining today and have a great rest of your day. 

MUGDHA VASIREDDI: Thank you so much. 

ALICIA BRANCH: Thank you.