[Histonet] Pap stain troubleshooting

[Bob Richmond]

Thanks for these excellent comments on troubleshooting the EA and OG-6
components I've copied them for my files. The important thing is to have
frequent feedback from the cytotechnologist to whoever is doing the
staining.

In one job I had the staining was done by a clerical person who took great
pride in the fact that she'd never looked down a microscope in her life.
(She never took a day's vacation - always an eosinophlic clupeid, as any
accountant will tell you - got caught with her hand in the till - I hope
her jump suit's dyed with orange G.) The cytotechnologists were
moonlighters in a distant place - we saw them once a year at the Christmas
party. I got burned doing the 10% QC - we had no way to feed back if we
found an error - we all missed a cervical adenocarcinoma - only time I've
been sued in >50 years in practice.

In another crazy practice the cytotechnologist only worked at night, and
was forbidden - for reasons I never understood - to ever be in the hospital
in the daytime - she'd never even met the histotechnologist who did her
staining, and who never looked at a slide. Fortunately we didn't get sued,
but we certainly could have.

Bob Richmond
Samurai Pathologist
Maryville TN