Position Statements
Last Updated (Wednesday, 22 July 2009 10:47)
In all Canadian jurisdictions, employers are responsible for ensuring a healthy and safe work environment for employees. This includes making appropriate control measures available to protect workers from exposure to hazardous agents. The CSMLS endorses the use of a hierarchy of controls – engineering, administrative and personal protective equipment – to prevent injury and illness. In potential infectious disease outbreaks, engineering and administrative controls will be most effective and should be implemented first. In addition, as the “last line of defence,” personal protective equipment should be chosen to provide adequate protection from the specific hazardous agent.
In the World Health Organization’s (WHO) most recent edition of their Laboratory Biosafety Manual (third edition, 2004), it is stated “Advice should be sought from a suitably qualified person, e.g. an occupational hygienist, for selection of the correct respirator. Surgical type masks are designed solely for patient protection and do not provide respiratory protection for workers.”
Recent concerns about a potential influenza pandemic have heightened awareness concerning respiratory protection for health care workers. Respiratory exposure to infectious agents is dependent on several factors, including the size of infectious particles, the concentration of infectious agents in the aerosol, the persistence of the aerosol, and the length of exposure time. Not all of these factors are immediately known when an infectious respiratory outbreak occurs. In keeping with WHO recommendations, the CSMLS supports the use of N-95 respirators as the minimum level of protection for laboratory personnel who may be exposed to bioaerosols through close contact with infected patients, or in the performance of laboratory tests on potentially infectious specimens.
The CSMLS believes that all laboratories should have a plan in place that is defensible and ensures due diligence in the protection of workers. Until enough evidence is available to support changes to current best practice, N95 respirators should be used as the minimum standard for health care workers facing potential exposure to respiratory infectious agents. The majority of scientific studies on the efficacy of these respirators supports their superiority over standard surgical masks in the reduction of exposure to airborne and droplet contamination.
Approved by CSMLS Board of Directors, May 27, 2006
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Health professionals share a core of knowledge and skills, whether they come from the diagnostic health technologies, such as diagnostic imaging or laboratory, from the therapeutic area, such as respiratory therapy, or from nursing. This solid foundation of health science knowledge, augmented by experience gained through work in the health care system, allows qualified practitioners to quickly learn and apply new knowledge and skills. This is true whether the individual is learning new or advanced techniques within their discipline (vertical multiskilling) or acquiring skills in another discipline (horizontal multiskilling). The advantages of learning and providing added skills for qualified health practitioners include:
- new skills are acquired with minimal expenditures of time and money, so training is cost-effective;
- qualified practitioners already understand ethical issues and have developed professional attitudes;
- qualified practitioners understand safe work practices required to protect the patient, fellow health workers, and themselves;
- provides job enrichment;
- health professionals are accustomed to exercising independent judgement and recognizing when a task is outside their level of professional competence; and
- employment opportunities will arise for some individuals who are displaced by health care reform
CSMLS supports multiskilling provided that competency-based assessment is performed to document that individuals have developed those value-added skills and has met the professional standards of the appropriate professional societies/ regulatory agencies.
CSMLS, in partnership with other appropriate health professionals, is committed to develop appropriate professional recognition for multiskilled practitioners, in order to promote consumer confidence and retain the highest standards within the health-care industry.
Initially approved March 3, 1995
Revised September 20, 2002
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Medical laboratory technologists perform medical tests, analyse specimens and interpret test results. Accurate medical testing, analysis and interpretation are essential to the diagnosis and treatment of disease and to the maintenance of health and wellness.
In addition to keeping pace with rapid advances in the field of medical laboratory science, medical laboratory technologists must also be prepared to function within multi disciplinary health care teams. Consequently, the body of knowledge required by entry level medical laboratory technologists must evolve beyond a purely technical focus to include broader-based skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, and communication.
In order to prepare future general medical laboratory technologists to practice in an increasingly complex health care environment, CSMLS has updated the competency profile. The revised profile incorporates skills and bodies of knowledge that were identified during an extensive consultation process with employers, educators, regulatory bodies and professional societies and practitioners. The revised profile will become the standard for entry-level general medical laboratory technologists effective 2010, pending a final stakeholder validation. Existing practitioners will not be affected by the new entry to practice requirements.
It is the opinion of the CSMLS Board of Directors that learning outcomes identified in the revised competency profile are best achieved in a baccalaureate degree program. However, as health and education are under provincial jurisdiction, CSMLS will not prescribe an educational credential for entry-level general medical laboratory technologists. All accredited training programs, including those at the college, technical or university levels will be required to integrate the new competency profile into their curricula in preparation for the national certification examinations in 2010.
CSMLS will work in collaboration with its members and key stakeholders to facilitate the transition to the new competency profile thereby ensuring that future entry-level general medical laboratory technologists are equipped with the skills and knowledge required to provide high quality medical laboratory services.
Revised April 28, 2004
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Medical laboratory technologists are highly trained professionals who play a vital role in health care. This is being recognized through self-regulatory legislation at the provincial level.
Professional status carries with it both rights and responsibilities. Along with the right to use a professional title or designation and to present oneself as a qualified professional, come responsibilities:
- to measure up to the accepted standard of practice
- to adhere to a code of conduct or ethics
- to be accountable for one's professional acts.
Implicit in these responsibilities is the need to maintain knowledge and skills at an appropriate level.
To keep pace with today's rapidly evolving and technically complex laboratory environment, learning must become a lifelong commitment. The CSMLS believes that maintaining our knowledge and skills is a fundamental professional responsibility.
Initially approved November 1996
Reaffirmed March 2002
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The Council on National Certification (CNC) is the body charged with the guardianship of the CSMLS certification program. They are responsible for establishing CSMLS policy on issues of certification and for ongoing maintenance of the certification process.
In the 1990s, CSMLS made a transition from a syllabus-based to a competency-based certification to prepare future medical laboratory technologists to meet the demands of an increasingly complex health care system. CSMLS currently offers entry-level medical laboratory technologist certification in three areas: General Medical Laboratory Technology, Diagnostic Cytology and Clinical Genetics.
The CNC develops competency profiles in consultation with employers, practitioners and educators. The profiles are designed to provide a certification process which assures employers that graduates of Canadian accredited training programs and other candidates deemed equivalent by the CSMLS have met specific learning outcomes and have developed broader-based skills, such as critical thinking and problem solving. The competency profiles are reviewed on a regular basis and when necessary, are revised to keep them current.
The outcomes of learning identified by the competency profiles give medical laboratory technologists the knowledge and skills required to provide the health care system with high quality laboratory services both now and in the future. It is the position of the CNC that fragmenting the competency profiles is not a solution to human resource shortages in the field of medical laboratory science.
The CSMLS competency profiles prepare medical laboratory technologists to function as members of multi-disciplinary health care teams, thereby enhancing the quality of patient care for all Canadians. The CNC is confident that with careful planning, the human resource needs of the health care system can be met without fragmenting the competency profiles.
Initially approved March 7, 2001
Revised November 5, 2005
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Medical laboratory technology encompasses laboratory testing related to the diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of disease. It is therefore closely associated with human life.
To ensure that the health and well-being of patients is protected, we strongly recommend that medical laboratory testing be done only by qualified medical laboratory technologists.
This statement is in accordance with the position adopted by the International Association of Medical Laboratory Technologists at the General Assembly of Delegates, Geneva, 8th August 1990.
Initially approved September 1991
Reaffirmed March 2002
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What is a standard?
Standards are documents that stipulate the requirements for the safety and/or performance for products, processes and services, and may outline industry guidelines and good practices. Compliance to standards is usually voluntary, however they may become mandatory when referenced by regulatory legislation. Standards are living documents which are reviewed and revised to reflect changes in stakeholder needs and the technological environment in which they were established.
What the CSMLS endorses:
The CSMLS believes that the use of consensus developed standards in medical laboratory science enhances and ensures the quality of care provided to the Canadian public. We support the use of standards to ensure that the science of medical laboratory technology is appropriate.
Future development of standards:
We believe that current initiatives to develop national and international standards for the medical laboratory sciences must proceed. Canada should be actively involved in the development of these standards if they are to serve Canadian health care needs. Stakeholders, standards organizations, and Canadian governments (federal, provincial and territorial) should support these initiatives to ensure the quality of healthcare for our nation.
In the interim:
CSMLS encourages its members to utilize the appropriate standards which currently exist for the medical laboratory sciences. Levels of practice should reflect currently established standards* produced by well-recognized expert organizations such as CLSI, CSTM, AABB, CSA and CGSB. As this is a rapidly evolving topic, members are encouraged to keep aware of developments in their areas of practice.
* Information on many of the current standards in the medical laboratory sciences is available to members through the CSMLS Loan Library as well as other sources such as medical publications and the Internet.
Acronyms: AABB - American Association of Blood Banks
CSTM - Canadian Society for Transfusion Medicine
CGSB - Canadian General Standards Board
CSA - Canadian Standards Association
CSMLS - Canadian Society for Medical Laboratory Science
CLSI - Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute
Initially approved September 19, 1998 Reaffirmed March 2002
Last Updated (Wednesday, 21 October 2009 10:53)
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The Canadian Society for Medical Laboratory Science recognizes that the environment of our planet is not a renewable resource. Our members share in the responsibility of protecting the environment for future generations. Recognizing that the medical laboratories where our members work produce biological, environmental and hazardous wastes, the CSMLS endorses the following environmental commitment:
- all wastes must be treated with procedures which will meet or exceed approved statutes and legislation;
- waste Reduction, resource Reuse and Recycling must be implemented where possible;
- the use of “environmentally friendly” and ecologically acceptable products is encouraged;
- all members should encourage others to practise with similar environmental responsibility, recognizing and addressing environmental concerns in their workplace.
Initially approved February 27, 1993
Reaffirmed March 2002
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Point of Care Testing (POCT) is an alternative to central or core laboratory testing that is performed at or near the patient, predominantly by non-laboratory medical professionals, inside or outside a hospital or medical setting. Benefits to POCT may include improved turnaround times, improved patient outcomes and reduced time to diagnosis and treatment.
Technological advancements have produced portable, easy to operate instruments that can deliver rapid, high quality test results.
Point-of-care testing programs require:
- collaboration of cross-discipline communication
- evaluation and determination of potential improvements for patient outcomes
- standardization and performance verification of instrumentation
- certification and staffing requirements
- effective cost management.
Clinical laboratories and medical laboratory technologists must maintain focus on assuring continuous quality of all laboratory testing wherever the procedures are performed. Medical laboratory technologists have the responsibility for the management of quality assurance by providing leadership and expertise in:
- developing, maintaining, operating and reviewing appropriate training programs to ensure competency of operator;
- assisting in the development of procedure manuals;
- establishing and monitoring appropriate documentation;
- establishing and monitoring quality control practices;
- implementing and auditing proficiency programs; and
- ensuring compliance with equipment protocols.
CSMLS endorses POCT when it is a collaborative and coordinated process between the clinical laboratory and other healthcare professionals, and there is clear evidence that the use of this technology improves the quality of patient care.
Initially approved March 3, 1995
Revised September 19, 2008
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