I invite you take a moment and think about all the interactions you have every day, specifically those at work. Do you feel that you conduct yourself in a respectful and articulate manner? Even when a nurse asks you if it’s safe to transfuse type O blood to their type A patient?
It can be difficult at times, especially when you get the same questions day in and day out, to answer these questions with respect and dignity. We have to remember we are medical laboratory experts and we have an obligation to conduct ourselves in a professional manner. We should be using these opportunities to raise our professional image and teach our colleagues about medical laboratory science. Answer each question with patience and respect, and remember it is the patient that we are ultimately helping.
I can remember getting a call from a pediatrician one busy Saturday afternoon. She asked me what polychromasia, which I had reported in her patient’s blood smear, meant. I couldn’t believe a doctor was asking me this question. Didn’t she learn about this in school? Did she not see the reticulocyte count, which she had ordered, was incredibly high? I answered her question and told her that the polychromasia was in fact due to the high retic count. She could have easily Googled the term, but instead she relied on the medical laboratory expert to give her the correct answer.
After the call, I remember telling my coworkers about it. Can you believe that she didn’t know that? Later, as I thought more about that interaction, I changed my way of thinking. I realized that I should feel flattered that she asked me that question. She admitted to herself and to me that she needed help. She reached out to the one person she knew would have the correct answer, the medical laboratory technologist who went to school for three years and learned exclusively about laboratory medicine. We sometimes have to remember doctors and nurses know a little about a lot of things, but we know a lot about this one thing.
The following is courtesy of Christine Bruce, Administrative Director, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine of Grand River Hospital and St. Mary’s General Hospital in Kitchener, ON. It is something she shared with her staff and it highlights the importance of thinking about our interactions with other health care providers.
“As medical laboratory professionals, we have the unique opportunity to promote and provide laboratory knowledge and best practices every day. The level of information that we warehouse in ourselves is tremendous and so unique to our profession. Further, it evolves faster than we can
publish or communicate to our non-lab colleagues. Having all of this wisdom is a blessing – but
can also be a bit of a hindrance because when you are an expert, you get questions all the time
– and very often the same question over and over – and that can be a challenge to tolerate some
days. This challenge can occasionally translate into the occasional eye roll with the audience, or
being somewhat condescending or short on the phone. That can put a damper on inter-hospital
relationships that are so vital to fulfilling the circle of care.
I challenge you to look at these interactions differently. You are teachers and information stewards. You have the ability to promote the profession and your laboratory with every stakeholder interaction. Show off how much you know proudly. Provide and reinforce the guidance we know our colleagues are craving. Use this as a time to promote understanding, and the permeation of accuracy into our everyday. When you take the time to explain – even if it means doing it 20 times – it means that the patient experience will be better – because of something you did! It means the lab profile is heightened through interprofessional collaboration. It means laboratory professionals develop the respect they deserve for the sheer value they add to the healthcare system every day.
Occasionally we can feel undervalued. Every time you get a question it actually means we are valued, appreciated, and needed. Let’s embrace, and help our colleagues ‘know now.’”
The conduct expected from medical laboratory professionals is steeped in many CSMLS documents. It is in the Standards of Practice for Medical Laboratory Assistants and Medical Laboratory Technologists as well as the CSMLS Code of Professional Conduct.
Under the heading Communication and Collaboration in the Standards of Practice:
• Respect and support the role of patients and other health care providers.
• Articulate the role of medical laboratory professionals in planning, developing, delivering and evaluating patient care.
• Share relevant medical laboratory knowledge with patients, health care providers and the public.
As CSMLS certified professionals, we have an obligation to ourselves and the profession to comport ourselves appropriately. The next time you have an interaction with someone, remember those three simple points because, in the end, we are all trying to do the best thing for the most important person: the patient.