healthcare professional, writing assignment help
Need responding to the following discussion post. APA format. Use in-text citations 300 to 350 word count.
As a healthcare professional, I am aware of the increased shortage of qualified healthcare professionals. An area, which has experienced a severe shortage is the clinical laboratory. In the United States, clinical laboratories continue to face high turnover rates. Exasperating the problem is the lack of trained laboratory technologists who can perform high complexity testing. My research will seek to examine the different causes involved. In an effort to seek solutions to this problem, laboratories have enlisted the guidance of quality improvement programs such as Six Sigma, Lean, and Agile. Unfortunately, the programs have resulted in failure, and in many cases contributed to the shortage problem (Slagle, 2013). The demand for qualified laboratory technologists have become such, that in 2016 the regulatory agencies proposed a solution, which would require nurses to conduct high complexity testing in the laboratory. If passed, this proposed solution would be disastrous to the medical field. The nursing department is already facing a similar shortage. In addition, nurses do not possess the specialized training to interpret or perform clinical testing.
By conducting this research my goal is to understand and hopefully identify the root cause of the shortage. What kind of strategies can be implemented by managers, to deal with the shortage of medical laboratory technologists, and increase the retention rate of laboratory technologists (Abii, Ogula, & Rose, 2013)? I believe my study can contribute to the body of knowledge in the field in different ways. The issue of medical staff shortage is one that is felt not only by laboratory technologist, but also other members in the healthcare industry. This shortage, has affected the quality of the work, and therefore affected patient care (Isouard, 2012). By understanding the effect the lack of qualified technologists will have in patient care, will help raise an awareness to the need to address this issue, in order to improve patient care.