Medical Laboratory Technician

Hot Springs County Hospital District

 Job Description

MEDICAL LABORATORY TECHNICIAN

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DEPARTMENT:          Laboratory

SUPERVISOR:             Laboratory Director                                          

EMPLOYEE NAME:  

APPROVED BY:          Chief Executive Officer             DATE:   January 2019

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GENERAL:

In accordance with the Hot Springs County Hospital District Personnel Policy and Procedure Manual and the requirements of our accrediting bodies, the employee will: support the mission “Partnering with our community for quality health and healing”, the values “work collaboratively with its community, patient population and other providers to achieve excellence in health care, respect for life, and respect for each other, conscientious fiscal responsibility and ongoing improvement through learning” and vision of “being the hub for the development and provision of creative health services that add value to the health, knowledge and well-being of the citizens of its service area while securing the viability of Hot Springs County Hospital District as a valued healthcare provider for its community.”

 

The established priorities of Quality, Service, Finance, People, and Growth, will be utilized in decision making. Furthermore, the employee will demonstrate the ability to manage time, maintain a safe and clean environment; practice confidentiality; treat all persons with respect and professional courtesy; accept change; accept and provide constructive feedback; work as a team player and adhere to the infection control, fire and safety, disaster and hazardous waste policies.  The employee must also demonstrate the competencies for their position, and adhere to policies and procedures of their department. The employee will participate in quality improvement activities.

 

BEHAVIORAL REQUIREMENTS:

The following is a list of minimally required behaviors to assist the employee in partnering with our community:

 

Ownership

Accepts responsibility for actions, attitudes and health.  Doing things right the first time, every time for excellent results.  Accepts ownership of mistakes and takes constructive action to avoid repeating mistakes.  Works with empowerment to the highest potential both as an individual and as part of the team. Unsatisfied with the status quo or just being “good.” 

 

Always Better Than Yesterday

Performs at the highest level, always learning and looking for ways to improve, with an unwavering focus on safety.  Celebrates and encourages the contributions of one another. 

Constructively challenges the status quo by being flexible, adaptable and embracing change as a key element of our future success.    Contributes to an environment that encourages creative thinking.  Shares ideas and opinions, and supports opportunities to learn and grow.

 

 

 

 

Service First

Doing our best every day to anticipate and exceed the expectations of patients, providers and co-workers. Understands excellence is the result of team effort.  Creates legendary experiences.

 

Integrity

Does the right things.  Consistently open, honest, trustworthy and ethical.  Demonstrates respect for patients, their families, staff, providers and the community. 

 

Stewardship of Our Resources

Strives to care wisely for our human, financial and natural resources.  Strengthens HSCHD as a partner in the community. 

 

POSITION SUMMARY

 

The Medical Laboratory Technician is responsible for performing both routine and complex analyses, which necessitates knowledge of laboratory techniques, principles, and equipment and their interrelationship. Exercises good judgment by using critical thinking skills and deals with issue resolution concerning the day-to-day technical operation of the laboratory.  Ensures that specimens are accessioned and processed expeditiously in order to deliver quality laboratory results in an effective and cost efficient manner.

 

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

 

1. Labeling, handling, preservation or fixation, processing or preparation and transportation and storage of specimens. 
2. Evaluate specimen integrity, process and load specimen on instrumentation and transcribe results from printouts.
3. Preform preventive maintenance and troubleshooting on equipment.
4. Has a working knowledge of reagent stability and storage
5. Can assist and perform quality control procedures and understand the quality control policies of the laboratory. 
6. Recognizes, investigates and correctly resolves test discrepancies.  When problems arise, takes appropriate action to investigate and address and notifies Director for follow-up. 
7. Provides technical information about test results to physicians and nursing.
8. Conducts chemical analysis of body fluids, including blood, urine, and spinal fluid, to determine presence of normal and abnormal components.
9. Operates, calibrates and maintains equipment used in quantitative and qualitative analysis. 
10. Collects and studies blood samples to determine the number of cells, their morphology, or their blood group, blood type, and compatibility for transfusion purposes, using microscopic techniques

 

QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily.  The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill and/or ability required.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

 

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE

The Medical Laboratory Technician shall be:

 

1.         High School Graduate or equivalent and has completed an official military medical laboratory procedure course of at least fifty (50) weeks duration and has held the military occupation specialty of Medical Laboratory Specialist

2.         Successfully completed sixty (60) semester hours including chemistry, biology, and medical laboratory techniques at an accredited institution or has successfully attained a science related associate’s degree and has had one (1) year pertinent laboratory experience and/or training

3.         Must possess communication skills to relate to the public in person

4.         Demonstrate good organizational abilities

5.         Basic computer skills necessary

 

LANGUAGE SKILLS:

Ability to read, analyze, and interpret common scientific and technical journals, financial reports, and legal documents. Ability to respond to common inquiries or complaints from customers, regulatory agencies, or members of the business community. Ability to write policies and procedures that conform to prescribed style and format. Ability to effectively present information to top management, public groups, and/or boards of directors.

 

MATHEMATICAL SKILLS:

Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals. Ability to compute rate, ratio, and percent and is knowledgeable in metric, apothecary and household measurements and can convert from one system to another.

 

REASONING ABILITY:

Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists. Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form. Ability to modify care based on the developmental / functional age of the patient as well as that of the patient's ethnic background.

 

CERTIFICATES, LICENSES, REGISTRATIONS:

 

• BLS

 

OTHER SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

Ability to act as a patient advocate.  Ability to interact with patients, families, visitors and co-workers.  Ability to interact assertively and tactfully when dealing with conflict and in group solving activities.  Ability to demonstrate a professional, open minded approach in identifying problems and resolving problems/conflicts.

 

Age Specific:

Must be able to provide care according to the developmental level and or chronological patient served.  This includes, but is not limited to, identifying the needs and abilities of each patient, and demonstrating an understanding of how a patient’s chronological and developmental age influences his/her need for adaptations related to his/her abilities.  Also, an understanding of how a patient’s age impacts his/her ability to deal with and adapt to the care needed/provided is required.  General census of neonatal to geriatric patients.

 

PHYSICAL DEMANDS: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

 

While filling this position, the employee must regularly lift and or move 10 pounds and occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds.  Specific vision abilities required by this position include close vision, distance, vision, color vision, peripheral vision, and depth perception.  This position also requires walking or standing to a significant degree.  This position also requires reaching, handling, fingering, feeling, talking, and hearing, stooping, bending, crouching, and working with equipment.

 

WORK ENVIRONMENT: The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

 

The employee is subject to inside and possibly outside weather conditions. The employee is also subject to exposure to blood and body fluids, proximity to moving mechanical parts, electrical shock, exposure to burns and radiant energy, exposure to explosives, exposure to toxic chemicals and biological agents.