Clinical Laboratory Scientist

Job Summary

As a Clinical Laboratory Scientist, you have the uncanny ability to look for that needle in the haystack that may lead to cracking medical mysteries. You’re not looking to be in the limelight, but rather to shed some light on health problems and diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and genetic abnormalities. Blood samples or body fluid specimens can hold the answers to research or recovery, so you take a detailed approach to performing clinical laboratory testing, evaluating and reporting data.

And while you may never actually meet your patients personally, you still feel a connection to a real person that may benefit from your love of science and research.

• Ensure specimens received by the laboratory are acceptable for testing by applying the appropriate criteria and change or prepare reagents, controls as necessary and record such in log.
• Label, accession and distribute specimens so that integrity of patient identification is maintained throughout processing and inoculate specimens from all areas of the body on appropriate media.
• Initiate orders for blood and/or blood components from the appropriate blood supplier.
• Follow hospital/laboratory safety and infection control policies and report variances to section supervisors as they occur.
• Determine appropriateness of manual methods, micro-methods, back-up procedures and initiate such procedures.
• Use computer system to compare patient results to previous results during the same encounter, investigate discrepancies, and report test results within established departmental turn‑around times after verifying documentation is complete and accurate.
• Prepare and interpret gram stains and other wet and dry preparations for bacteriology and parasitology.
• Perform all routine procedures including, but not limited to, ABORH typing and retesting, antibody detection and identification, compatibility testing and serology procedures.
• Prepare blood components while maintaining aseptic technique and proper storage.
• Evaluate serological reactivity to assist with antibody identification and cross match incompatibilities.
• Follow universal precautions at all times when dealing with blood or body fluids and disinfect counter tops at the end of the shift with appropriate cleaner.
• Operate, calibrate, conduct performance checks, and maintain any clinical laboratory instrument or equipment after orientation, troubleshoot basic instrument malfunctions, and document in the appropriate action log.
• Determine when an instrument’s service representative should be contacted for assistance.
• Analyze quality control material for each procedure, record values according to section policy, and report to technical supervisor when results are outside established limits.
• Perform comparison studies of precision, accuracy and linearity on new or existing procedures, record proficiency surveys, and route form and reagent quality control as specified in the quality control manuals.
• Assist in the clinical orientation of new or less skilled laboratory personnel as requested by the section supervisor.
• Ensure proper packaging and disposal of waste chemicals and maintain proper documentation (log) of generated waste.
• Perform order or result entry (manual or computerized) and review information for accuracy before verification.
• Document critical call value notification, duplicate checking, date and time of performance, technologist initials, and expected age‑related “normal” values on all down‑time reports as appropriate.
• Check instruments and benches for appropriate reagent and supply levels, replenish, and notify appropriate person of low inventory items or out‑of‑date contaminants; record receipt of supplies and reagents, properly initial and date inventory items at receipt,…