Competency for Japanese novice medical laboratory scientists: a Delphi method

BACKGROUND

Competency is used to channel abilities into successful processes and is employed in the medical field. Globally, several laboratory competencies exist, but the job descriptions of Japanese medical laboratory scientists differ from those of other countries and little evidence-based information on novice medical laboratory scientist competency is available in Japan. This study clarified the competencies of novice medical laboratory scientists based on various expert opinions in Japan.

METHODS

The Delphi method was used to achieve an expert consensus on novice medical laboratory scientist competencies. We asked the participants to evaluate the importance of each item using the Likert scale and set 70% as the final consensus rate.

RESULTS

We obtained 106/400 (26.5%) and 95/106 (89.6%) responses from participants in rounds 1 and 2, respectively. Their professional experience mean ± standard deviation was 32.4 ± 6.0 years (range: 13-41). The average of each category consensus rate was > 99.1%. Ninety-five expert opinions converged and agreed that the competency comprised 8 categories and 54 items.

CONCLUSIONS

The survey results revealed that novice medical laboratory scientists were expected to have relatively higher main laboratory skill competencies in the 'Preparation and analysis' category than in other categories. Nevertheless, competencies in other categories required basic skills. In addition, our competencies contained unique competencies compared with others due to their divergent roles and their environment. Further research is warranted to explore assessment tools by developing a competency scale, thereby helping clarify the differences between ability and correlated factors. The unique competencies scale can help assess the efficacy of educational programmes for Japanese medical laboratory scientists.

Awareness and Knowledge of Ergonomics Among Medical Laboratory Scientists in Nigeria

Background:

Ergonomics awareness helps in its right application and contributes significantly to general wellbeing and safety of worker at workplace.

Aim:

This cross-sectional descriptive study aimed at assessing the level of awareness and knowledge of the science of ergonomics among Medical Laboratory Scientists in Benin City, Nigeria.

Subjects and Methods:

A total of 106 medical laboratory scientists comprising 64 and 42 in public and private laboratories, respectively, were recruited for this study using systematic random sampling technique. Data were obtained from the study participants using a questionnaire and subsequently analyzed with the statistical software INSTAT^®.

Results:

Out of 106 study participants, 27 (25.5%) were reported to have heard of the term ergonomics. Awareness was significantly associated with gender (male vs. female: 38.5% [15/39] vs. 17.9% [12/67]; odds ratio = 2.9; 95% confidence interval = 1.2, 7.1;P = 0.02). Awareness of ergonomics was not significantly affected by affiliation (P = 0.18), area of specialization (P = 0.78), post-qualification experience (P = 0.43), and educational qualification (P = 0.23) of the study participants. Irrespective of the affiliation of the participant, only 6 of 27 (22.2%) participants who were aware of ergonomics knew at least a benefit of right application of ergonomics in the laboratory. Knowledge of risk factors for the development of musculoskeletal disorders was reported by 8 of 27 (29.6%) persons who claimed to be aware of ergonomics.

Conclusions:

Awareness of ergonomics and knowledge of gains of its right application was poor among the study participants. Regular ergonomic education of medical laboratory scientists in Nigeria is advocated.