3.0.

Rights and Obligations of

Medical Laboratory Professionals:

1
 Objectives
Upon completion of this session the student will be
able to:
– Describe rights of medical laboratory professionals
– Discuss obligations of medical laboratory
professionals

2
The Quality Management System

Organization Personnel Equipment

Purchasing Process Information

& Control Management
Inventory

Documents Occurrence
& Assessment
Management
Records

Process Customer Facilities

Improvement Service &
Safety

3
 Staff Equals Job
Workload Qualifications

Performance Job
Appraisal Descriptions
Personnel
Management
Continuing Orientation
Education

Competency
Assessment Training

4
4
 Laboratory Staff
• Laboratory’s and health industry
greatest asset
• Critical to quality service provision
• Partners in public health
• Qualified professionals

5
5
 Where Do Clinical Laboratory
Professionals Work?
Although most clinical laboratory professionals work
in:
Hospital or clinical labs
Physician office labs
Commercial or reference labs
Public Health labs

•There are many other exciting employment

opportunities for clinical laboratory professionals
Clinical Lab Professionals Also Work In
 Pharmaceutical and Chemical Industries
 Biotechnology Companies
 Forensic and Law Enforcement Laboratories
 Veterinary Clinics
 Research and Teaching Institutions
 Transplant and Blood Donor Centers
 Fertility Clinics
 Cosmetic and Food Industry
Rights of Medical Lab Professionals
• Safe working environment

• Appropriate wage, allowance

• Legal protection

• Security

• Insurance for occupational hazard

• Access to medication

• Professional risk allowance

• Standard work load 8

 Rights of Medical Lab Professionals
• Proper annual leave (maternity/paternity leave)

• Right to exercise the profession ethically and legally

• Testing by the professionals/not non-lab personnel

• License for Med Lab personnel

• The right to participate in health facility management

and policy making
• Continuous educational development (CPD)

• Vaccination 9
Motivated employees are more
committed to their work
 praise
 recognition
 bonuses
 benefits
 flexible time

10
4. Obligation of medical laboratory
professionals
• Honesty
• Dependability
• Kindness and firmness
• Humanity and Justice
• Maintaining good reports
• Adaptability
• Co-operation
• Ethical behaviors

11
 Obligation of medical laboratory professionals:
4.1. Honesty
– In performing lab testing
– In reporting lab results
4.2. Dependability
– Taking your position seriously
– Being at work when you assigned to be
4.3. Kindness and firmness
– Use compassion with patients and co-workers
– Remain firm in your duties and in doing what is right
and best for your patient
12
 Obligation of medical laboratory professionals
cont’d
4.4. Humanity and Justice
– Be fair in running all patients’ laboratory tests
– Put yourself in the patient’s position before you argue
or say something you will regret
– Put yourself in your co-worker’s position before you
argue or say something you will regret
4.5. Maintaining good reports
– Use good handwriting when signing out patient results
– Take your time to record all patient information in all
log books
– Be honest in all your reporting
13
 Obligation of medical laboratory professionals
cont’d:

4.6. Adaptability
– Be willing to change work hours to help a co-worker
– Be willing to stay at work a little longer if patient
work is not completed
– Be willing to make changes in testing procedures and
other areas as needed

14
 Obligation of medical laboratory professionals
cont’d:
4.7. Co-operation
– If you expect others to co-operate with you, you
need to co-operate with them
– Team work will finish lab work quicker than an
individual

4.8. Ethical behaviors

– In all that you do, base your actions and decisions on
ethical behavior

15
5. Duties and responsibilities of
Medical Laboratory Professionals

16
 Objectives
• Upon completion of this session the student
will be able to:
– List the duties of a medical laboratory professional
– Describe the responsibilities of medical laboratory
professionals.

17
 5.1.1. Duties to yourself
The medical laboratory technologist should:
• Maintain and improve the standard of your performance
– Keeping your professional knowledge and skills up to
date throughout your working life.

• Acknowledge the limits of your professional knowledge

and competence. Do not pretend to know everything.

• Use equipment and laboratory wares/equipment

correctly and with care

19
 5.1.1 Duties to yourself, cont’d
• Refrain from engaging in activities that may affect your
health and lead to impairment
• Be aware of laws and regulations governing medical
laboratory technology
• Do not waste reagents and other laboratory supplies
• Do not drink alcohol during laboratory working hours or
when on emergency stand-by
• follow safety procedures and know how to apply first aid
• Never take anything from place of work that does not
belong to you

20
 5.1.2. Duties to your profession
The medical laboratory technologist should:
• uphold and maintain the dignity and respect of
medical laboratory profession
• contribute to the advancement of the profession by
– improving the body of knowledge for your
profession
– adopting scientific advances that benefit the patient
– maintaining high standards of practice and
education, and
– seeking fair working conditions for members of the
profession.
21
 5.1.2. Duties to your profession
• Strive to maintain a reputation of your profession

• Promote the image and status of your profession

– by maintaining high standards in your professional practice
and through active support of your professional bodies.

• Take responsibility for your professional acts

• Do not misuse your professional skills or knowledge

for Personal gain
22
 5.1.3. Duties to Society
The medical laboratory technologist should:
 Deal responsibly with scarce health care
resources.
 Refrain from providing services that are not
needed, whether for financial gain or not.
 Do not waste materials or reagents or other
supplies
 Do not participate in improper financial
arrangements
 Dedicate themselves to serve the healthcare
needs of the public 23
 5.1.4. Duties to the environment
The medical laboratory technologist should: 
• protect the environment and the public by assuring
that health care waste is disposed of legally and in an
environmentally friendly manner

24
 5.1.5 Duties to Patients

• always regard concern for the best interests or well-

being of your patients as your primary professional
duty.
• honor the trust of your patients
• be mindful that a medical laboratory science
practitioner is in a position of power over a patient
and avoid abusing your position.
• respect patients’ privacy and dignity
• treat patients politely and with consideration
• apply the principle of informed consent as an on-
going process 25
 “Remember the patient is the
reason, and the only reason for
your professional existence: In
order for a patient to receive the
best care possible, you must
make proper diagnosis.”
26
 Chapter 5 Review Questions
• What are the specific duties of a medical
laboratory professional?
• Give some examples of duties to protect the
environment.
• What are some duties of medical laboratory
professionals to society?
• What are responsibilities of medical laboratory
professionals?

27