ASCP outlines grief support for labs
- The American Society for Clinical Pathology published April guidance urging laboratory managers to treat employee grief as a workplace issue, not a private matter. - Dana Powell Baker told supervisors to formalize bereavement plans, define “immediate family,” and put policy access points in onboarding and department workflows. - The advice lands as staffing shortages and retirements continue straining U.S. labs. (ascp.org)
The American Society for Clinical Pathology is telling laboratory leaders to manage grief like any other workforce risk, with written policies and supervisor support. (criticalvalues.org) In an April 7 article, ASCP’s Critical Values said unaddressed grief can damage morale, retention, productivity, and team cohesion in high-pressure laboratory settings. (criticalvalues.org) The guidance came from Dana Powell Baker, senior manager of academic partnerships at the Association of Public Health Laboratories, after her session at ASCP KnowledgeLab in St. Louis on March 2-3, 2026. (criticalvalues.org) (ascp.org) Baker said grief in laboratories can follow a death, divorce, job loss, burnout, or other personal and professional losses, but managers often do not see it reflected in workplace policy. (criticalvalues.org) (education.ascp.org) Her recommendations were operational: include bereavement rules in onboarding, build a departmental bereavement plan, define terms clearly, standardize policies across departments where possible, and spell out who employees should contact. (criticalvalues.org) She also pointed to a common failure point: one employer may define “immediate family” differently from another, leaving grieving workers to discover limits only after a death. (criticalvalues.org) The broader backdrop is a laboratory workforce still under strain. ASCP said its 2024 vacancy survey found vacancies had eased from 2022 levels but remained above pre-pandemic rates, while 10 of 17 departments reported increased retirements. (ascp.org) ASCP’s workforce program says it is using surveys, advocacy, and training initiatives to build a “resilient, well-supported, and future-ready” laboratory workforce. (ascp.org 1) (ascp.org 2) A separate Digital Pathology Association webinar scheduled for May 14 takes up another management problem: how surgical pathology labs detect errors, log them, and move from individual blame to systems design. (digitalpathologyassociation.org 1) (digitalpathologyassociation.org 2) That session, led by Amanda Katsma, focuses on technical error, specimen contamination, human factors, and why active detection methods can surface more problems than routine reporting alone. (digitalpathologyassociation.org) Together, the two groups are pushing lab supervisors toward the same conclusion: staff support and quality control both need clearer systems before the next crisis hits. (criticalvalues.org) (digitalpathologyassociation.org)
