Speakers:
Julie Shaw. Head, Division of Biochemistry and POCT, Associate Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. EORLA, The Ottawa Hospital and The University of Ottawa
Julie is the Division Head for Biochemistry and POCT at the Eastern Ontario Regional Laboratories Association and The Ottawa Hospital. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Ottawa. Julie chairs the POCT SIG of the CSCC and is the CSCC representative on the IFCC POCT working group. Her research interests are focused around quality assurance for POCT.
Teralee Burton. Clinical Biochemist, Medical Lead for Biochemistry and POCT Interior Health BC. Interior Health.
Teralee is the Medical Lead for Biochemistry and POCT for Interior Health BC, and holds a faculty position with UBC. She is located in the sunny central Okanagan.
Overview:
Laboratories across Canada are facing unprecedented shortages of qualified medical laboratory technologists (MLT). Laboratories are having to think creatively about how to deliver laboratory services in the face of not having enough MLTs to staff the laboratories. One strategy is to ensure that medical laboratory assistants are used to their full scope, another is to increase the menu of point of care testing (POCT) performed. A challenge with the latter is the reality that hospitals are facing a similar staffing challenge with a shortage of nursing staff, who are typically the clinical staff who perform POCT.
A potential solution is to train MLA staff to perform POCT. In many jurisdictions, MLAs are also training in phlebotomy and their knowledge of proper specimen collection technique can lessen pre-analytical errors often associated with POCT. MLA are laboratory staff and therefore, the laboratory oversees their performance. A challenge with POCT performed by clinical staff is that these individuals do not report to the laboratory, which can make enforcement of QA policies and procedures difficult.
Objectives:
At the end of this activity, participants will be able to:
- Appreciate challenges related to quality with POCT
- Describe the difference between a MLT and MLA
- List pros and cons of MLA performing POCT over clinical staff