Comforting her patients is always top of mind for Kim Benke. When she successfully draws someone’s blood on her first attempt, she feels particularly rewarded – especially when patients warn her it will be difficult. And when Kim recognizes warning signs that someone may be in danger of fainting, she has learned to be visibly calm to help reduce patients’ anxiety.
Originally from Prince George, Kim trained at Vancouver Community College as a lab assistant, and worked up north before she and her husband moved to Penticton in 2006.
“The job of a lab assistant is essential to help diagnose a patient’s illness,” says Kim. “It is more vital than most people realize because bloodwork diagnosis is such a fundamental part of health care.”
Kim’s workdays include a variety of shifts at Penticton Regional Hospital and some off-site shifts in Summerland or Keremeos. Her primary duties include drawing blood from patients, data entry processing of patient requisitions, preparing/packaging samples to be analyzed, assisting co-workers who require help with patients, and cardiac monitoring using ECGs and Holter monitors.
Being prepared for the unexpected is always a challenge, but so is working short-staffed and training/orientating others during her shifts. However, one of the things she likes best about her job is hearing the fascinating stories her senior patients share when she works with them.
Kim also works with children, who can be very challenging. “For first-timers under two years of age, it usually goes smoothly because they don’t understand what’s going on,” she says. But if it is the second time, or more, the child is likely to make a fuss. And if they are a toddler, she asks for help because they are “strong and wiggly”.
Kim is also a dedicated activist who has attended two HEU conventions. She is chair of her local and chief shop steward. “Participating in Winter School 2017 at Harrison Hot Springs really revved me up,” says Kim. “It was great to meet other activists from other unions because it comforted me to know we have the same problems and issues.”
by Sharon Neufeld