Rating Criticality of Tasks Performed by Laboratory Practitioners: Stage II of a Practice Analysis

1. Rating Criticality of Tasks Performed by Laboratory Practitioners: Stage II of a Practice Analysis Donna Surges Tatum, Ph.D., CAE, and Kory Ward-Cook, Ph.D., MT(ASCP), CAE Poster Session CLMA/ASCP Meeting June 2003

2. ABSTRACT This study describes how laboratory managers and program directors rate task criticality of medical technologist (MT) and medical laboratory technician (MLT) tasks. The objectives of this study were to rate how essential knowledge of MT and MLT tasks are at entry into the profession and to rate how critical knowledge of tasks are to MTs and MLTs later in their career (after one year on-the-job). These practice analysis data demonstrate the relative importance of tasks, as perceived by both laboratory managers and program directors. Both laboratory managers and program directors assign the relative importance (less critical, critical, and very critical) of individual MT and MLT tasks.

3. INTRODUCTION • Practice analyses, (i.e., job task analyses) are a vital component of maintaining the validity of the certification process; they are used to validate examinations by providing the link between job performance and examination content. • Stage I of the analysis requires the determination of the frequency with which tasks are performed by practitioners. Figures 1 and 2 give the frequency of tasks by area/type of laboratory as performed by medical technologists (MT) and medical laboratory technicians (MLT), both at entry level (first year on-the-job) and after one year on-the-job (previously determined by surveying MT and MLT practitioners). • This study describes Stage II of a practice analysis which includes a rating by both managers and program directors of how essential or critical the tasks are for the practitioner to be able to perform.

4. METHODS • In September 2002, the ASCP Board of Registry mailed surveys to laboratory managers; the list was from the CLMA database of members (n=5,779). The same survey was also mailed to program directors of accredited MT and MLT programs (n=576). • Laboratory managers and program directors were asked to rate 409 job tasks as “least critical”, “critical” or “most critical”. Refer to Table 1 for a list of job task categories. • Half the managers and half the program directors were asked to rate how essential the knowledge of MT and MLT job tasks were for the entry level practitioner to be able to perform. The other half of the managers and program directors were asked to rate how critical theknowledge of MT and MLT tasks were for the non-entry level laboratory practitioner to be able to perform.

5. METHODS(continued) • SPSS 11.5 was used to perform the descriptive analysis. • Winsteps, which is based on the Rasch model of measurement, was used to calculate the calibrated item (task) measures. • A correlational analysis was calculated to compare the relationship between the managers ratings and the program directors ratings for both essential tasks for entry level practitioners and critical tasks for non-entry level practitioners.

6. RESULTS • Collectively, 995 surveys were returned, for a response rate of 16%. • Table 2a and 2b show the rating of the 409 job tasks by the managers and the program directors for MT entry level practitioners and non-entry level practitioners • Table 3a and 3b show the rating of the 409 job tasks by the managers and the program directors for MLT entry level practitioners and non-entry level practitioners

7. RESULTS (continued) • Figure 3 shows the correlation (R2 = 0.8913) between the managers measures and the program directors measures for all MT job tasks. • Figure 4 shows the correlation (R2 = 0.9008) between the managers measures and the program directors measures for MLT job tasks.

8. CONCLUSIONS • Both managers and program directors rate criticality of job tasks for both entry level and non-entry level practitioners similarly; therefore, expectations appear to match. • Roughly 50% of the job tasks were rated as “critical” for both entry level and non-entry level practitioners, while a third were rated as “least critical” and less than 13% were rated “very critical” for both MT and MLT practitioners. • The criticality ratings along with task performance frequency for both the entry level and non-entry level MT and MLT practitioners will be used to assist certification examination committee members with mapping the MT and MLT certification examinations.

9. TABLE 1: List of Task Categories for MT and MLT Practitioners • Accession (uniquely identify specimens/products for laboratory purposes, eg. arterial specimens, capillary specimen, etc.) • Ability to Physically Collect Specimens • Perform/Process (eg. departmental distribution, blood smears, etc…) • Apply Knowledge of (eg. data security/ patient confidentiality, etc…) • Apply Knowledge of Theory and Principles to (eg. biochemistry, • immunohematology, etc…) • Select Appropriate (eg. course of action, quality control procedures, • etc.)

10. TABLE 1: List of Task Categories for MT and MLT Practitioners (continued) • Prepare Appropriate (eg. controls, educational materials, etc.) • Assess Test Results by Correlating Laboratory Data with (eg. • clinical or other laboratory data, quality control data, etc.) • Establish (eg. new reference ranges, procedures for alternate test • methodologies) • Evaluate (eg. appropriate actions and methods, possible sources of • error or inconsistencies) • Evaluate Laboratory Data to (eg. assess validity/accuracy of test • procedures, check for common procedures/technical problems)

11. TABLE 1: List of Task Categories for MT and MLT Practitioners (continued) • Calculate (eg. method verification, QC and QA data) • Perform the following tasks in these areas: Blood Bank, Body • Fluids, Chemistry, Chromatography and Spectrophotometry, • Communication, Compliance/Regulatory, Education/Training, • Environmental Testing, Flow Cytometry, Food Testing, • Hemapheresis, Hematology, Histology, Immunology, Industrial and • Research, Laboratory Information Systems, Microbiology, Molecular • Diagnostics, Point-of-Care (POC), Quality Assurance and • Competency, Safety, Supervision/Management.