Shane Carias completed a performance review with her supervisor William Monteiro. The review covered several skill areas related to her work processing samples in a university lab. Overall, Shane received high marks and positive feedback in areas like professionalism, communication, teamwork, problem-solving, and following proper procedures. Her supervisor noted she should continue emphasizing the importance of collecting complete and accurate data from COVID-19 samples. Shane was also commended for her work ensuring safety during the pandemic. Going forward, she will help train new students on general lab processes and specific standard operating procedures.

1. Sheffield Hallam University: Performance
Review
Student: Shane Carias
Supervisor: William Monteiro
First: 07/12/21
Mid: 13/05/21
Final: 24/08/21
SKILL AREA Student
Examples / Comments
Supervisor
Examples / Comments
A. Professional & Organisational
Awareness
• General presentation
• Equality & diversity
• Professional ethics
• Confidentiality
• Company structure & function
• Departmental structure & function
• Commercial awareness
Treating each individual with respect and embracing
diversity.
Aware of changes in the BRC lab as we went out of
COVID-19 lockdown such as more research studies
are opening back up.
Being accountable for all of my actions and being
transparent with the lab staff if I made a mistake or
spot a problem.
Score
10/10
Records and deviations from SOP and times for good
lab practice
Not exposed to patient personal data
Aware of department structure and knows the staff
groups working in the dept.
Knows the difference between research samples and
clinical trial work
Score
10/10
B. Communication
• Clear verbal communication & active
listening
• Presentations
• Explanatory ability
• Writing skills
• Communicating with people at different
levels / from different backgrounds
Communicating well with different types of people in
the department.
Answering phone calls in a professional manner.
Effective communication and active listening,
following instructions carefully.
Score
10/10
Communicates well in the lab and asks questions
when necessary. Works well with the other student.
Answers the phone to liaise with research nurses and
admin
Can read and understand new SOPs
Score
10/10
C. Working with Others
• Cooperating
• Contributing to teamwork
• Working under supervision
• Supervising / showing leadership
• Working with different people
• Interdisciplinary working
Working well in a team and supporting other lab
members efficiently.
Being polite and friendly to other people in the
organisation.
Good emotional intelligence.
Works well in a team, works with 2nd placement
student to complete work efficiently.
Can work fully unsupervised and uses her initiative
Professional attitude and respectful of others

2. • Emotional intelligence
Score
10/10
Aware when stock levels are low so we can avoid
problems
Score
10/10
D. Self-Improvement
• Enthusiasm, commitment
• Willingness to learn
• Initiative, resourcefulness, autonomy
• Taking responsibility
• Maturity
• Effective time management
• Personal organisation / work planning
More confident in sputum processing with minimal
supervision.
Practicing on sputum total cell counts to recognise
living, dead and squamous cells with the help of the
lab technician.
Continuation of my placement log book, writing
down new skills/experience each week. Open to ask
questions about new research studies.
Score
9/10
Learning to use new SOP, mainly sputum cytology
SOP recently
New equipment used microscope, cell counter and
haemocytometer
Learning to do cell counts and calculate Total cell
counts
Learning to process sputum and blood samples and
manage time with other student
Score
9/10
E. Problem Solving & Resilience
• Prioritising tasks
• Defining problems
• Taking action
• Locating information
• Taking a range of approaches
• Persevering
Recognising problems such as noticing the samples in
OpenSpecimen is in the wrong place, correcting it
and double checking all the other containers.
Doing the sputum calculation with confidence –
calculating % viability and % squamous cells.
Demonstrating resilience during stressful times.
Score
9/10
Learning to troubleshoot sputum cytology problems
with every sample.
Learning and improving manual cell counts on the
microscope by practice and comparison to
experienced staff.
Resolving errors on data collection for received from
nurses
Score 10/10
F. Information technology
• Using Word/Excel/PP etc.
• Using specialist software
• Using databases
• Literature searching
• Open to developing and utilising new
Knowing how to add/edit/remove containers in
OpenSpecimen.
Using excel and word to create log samples and
shipment forms.
Happy to learn new IT skills such as troubleshooting
BarTender software.
Using Open specimen for tissue tracking
Using Excel or word to generate sample logs to ship
COVID samples or for audit
Using QPULSE to read SOPs

3. technology skills
Score
9/10
Score
9/10
G. Numeracy
• Calculating / evaluating
• Checking results
• Applying appropriate statistics
• Recording / presenting data
Being more confident in the calculations for sputum
processing.
Checking results for sputum calculations.
Score
9/10
Calculations for weights and volumes for sputum
processing
Viability % and Total cell counts for estimating cell
numbers for sputum cytospin production and
assessment of eosinophils
Score
9/10
H. Working Practice
(i) Knowledge
• Experimental/project design
• Function / principles of equipment
• Health & safety procedures
• Knowing reasons for particular working
practices
• Background / theoretical knowledge
Understanding the purpose of sputum cytology.
Trained in health and safety procedure, wear
appropriate clothing for lab and PPE; following
COVID-19 guidelines in the lab.
Score
10/10
Aware of GCP, HTA and health and safety
regulations.
Understands trial design i.e baseline measurements
and measurements after treatment and placebo
group.
Understands the use of sputum cytology and cell
calculations to assess airway inflammation.
Understands use of safety cabinets for protection
Score
10/10
(ii) Work Skills
• Careful & safe working practice
• Manual dexterity
• Correct use of equipment/methodology
• Follows methods / protocols
• Competent in a range of activities
Careful and safe working practice such as disinfecting
regularly and wearing PPE.
Following the lab manual and protocols ensuring
correct outcome of sample processing.
Being able to do total cell counts without
supervision.
Score
10/10
Trained to use centrifuges, fume cupboard, class 2
cabinet, pipettes.
Gloves, Lab coats, class 2 cabinet and disinfectant for
safe work practice.
Gained competence in the sputum processing SOP
for measuring eosinophils in sputum which indicate
inflammation.
Score

4. 10/10
(iii) Quality of Work
• Accuracy
• Reliability of service
• Attention to details
• Efficiency
• Meets deadlines
• Resilience under pressure
Being reliable and using initiative to get work done.
Ensuring I pay attention to detail such as making sure
all the information is filled in the notification form.
Being calm under pressure and keep going.
Score
10/10
Completing data forms accurately
Recording weights and measures accurately for
accurate downstream calculations.
Calculating total cell count accurately.
Processing efficiently to maintain cell viability
Score
10/10
TO BE COMPLETED BY THE SUPERVISOR
Comments / Proposals
Potential action to assist with training, extend
experience or address problems as follow-up to
Performance Review
It is important to remember that the COVID samples processed will be used to learn more about the virus and
help treat patient with long COVID in the future and that these samples are really important for research. It
was important that they were collected according to the SOP and that all the data was collected too. It was also
important to keep everyone safe and make sure there were no contamination issues. At the start of the
placement the vaccine was still being assessed and approved. Shane did a great job to disinfect tubes and work
at Class 2 biosafety and clean down afterwards to prevent an outbreak.
The new students for the coming year have started and Shane is helping them settle in and teach them the
general lab processes and blood and sputum SOPs that she has learned.
Date discussed: 24/8/2021 Supervisor: William Monteiro Student: Shane Carias