Clinical laboratory scientists' view of the competencies needed for current practice

Clinical Laboratory Science, Mar/Apr 1999 by Beck, Susan J, Laudicina, Rebecca J

OBJECTIVE: To provide a current description of competent clinical laboratory scientists (CLSs) that can be used as a guide for educators, practitioners, and students.

DESIGN: A survey of clinical laboratory science (CLS) practitioners was developed to assess current work settings and important competencies in those settings. The survey also addressed graduate school enrollment and the impact of multi-skilling on current practice.

SETTINGS AND PARTICIPANTS: 135 graduates of the Division of Clinical Laboratory Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1987 to 1996.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Participants' responses to questions about their current job titles, clinical specialty, type of institution, multi-skilling, graduate school enrollment, and the competencies they considered important for their jobs were analyzed to provide a description of current practice.

RESULTS: The response rate for the survey was 73%. The majority of the respondents were employed as staff CLSs in medium to large hospitals. Thirteen percent of the respondents indicated that they had graduate degrees and an additional 13% were currently enrolled in a graduate or professional program. Fourteen percent of the respondents reported that they were working in the laboratory profession and were performing some health care skills not included in the CLS program. The graduates described 15 major areas of competence important for current clinical practice. The skill or competency mentioned most frequently by the respondents was interpersonal skills followed by flexibility. Competence in technical and scientific skills was ranked third and problem solving abilities was ranked fourth.

CONCLUSION: The results of this study describe a CLS practitioner who is able to communicate well with others as a team member; flexible and open to change in the work environment; technically competent; able to solve problems and correlate clinical information; organized; and involved in the management and leadership of the clinical laboratory. This description can help educators design curricula, guide practitioners' self assessment, and inform students who are considering a career in CLS.

ABBREVIATIONS: CLS = clinical laboratory science; CLSs = clinical laboratory scientists; NCA = National Credentialing Agency for Laboratory Personnel; UNC-CH = The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

INDEX TERMS: clinical laboratory practice; clinical competence; education.

Clin Lab Sci 1999;12(2):98

A continual review of the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed for current laboratory practice is important for educators, practitioners, and students. Educators need to know the kinds of experiences that must be included in a curriculum in order to prepare students to enter the job market and develop in their professional roles. Clinical laboratory professionals must recognize the competencies that are needed for current, effective practice. Students who are considering clinical laboratory science (CLS) as a career need to know the kinds of skills and attributes that are required for success in the profession before they make an educational and career choice.

A comprehensive study of the tasks considered important for entrylevel competence is regularly conducted by the National Credentialing Agency for Laboratory Personnel (NCA) using national job analyses.' The skills needed for practice have also been addressed in studies of graduates of CLS programs.2,3 These studies provide useful information about the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that practitioners must have for competence; however, they must be continually updated to keep pace with the changing clinical laboratory environment.

This study was undertaken to provide a current description of the competent clinical laboratory scientist. The study included a description of the current work settings of practitioners and the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that were needed for competence in these settings. The study consisted of a survey of CLS practitioners who had graduated from the Division of Clinical Laboratory Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNCCH) over a ten-year period. Specifically the study addressed the following questions:

1. What are the employment settings and job titles of the graduates?

2. What percent of graduates are seeking advanced degrees or certification?

3. What percent of graduates are performing skills outside of the traditional clinical laboratory scope of practice?

4. What competencies (knowledge, skills, and attitudes) do graduates perceive to be most important for current practice?

METHOD

A survey was developed to collect demographic information including current job titles, clinical specialty, type of institution, and graduate or professional school enrollment. To assess the impact of multi-skilling on laboratory practice, CLS graduates were asked to identify healthcare skills they were performing that had not been addressed in the CLS curriculum. Graduates were asked to respond to an open-ended question on the competencies that are most important in their current work setting. The open-ended question format was chosen to collect data on the respondents' views without the authors' influence or limitations. The survey was pilot tested on faculty and CLS practitioners at UNC-CH.