Work in any laboratory environment requires organization, efficiency, and strong attention to detail. As a Medical Laboratory Assistant, you’ll be responsible for conducting different diagnostic services and quality control assessments, while operating and maintaining specialized lab equipment. In that case, an organized system and work environment are essential for helping lab technicians to perform their jobs effectively. They must be able to access records quickly and keep their station clean to comply with safety standards. While training as a Medical Laboratory Assistant, you will learn how to maintain your work area to improve productivity and uphold quality procedures. Here’s a closer look at some of the best practices to follow in your professional career!
Prepare Your Supplies
As a Medical Laboratory Assistant, you’ll be responsible for running a number of diagnostic services. These include collecting blood or tissue samples from patients and conducting routine laboratory tests or analyses of those samples. To perform these tests efficiently, it’s important to take the time to set up all medical laboratory equipment. Students in a medical lab technician program will learn how to clean and maintain all equipment to create an organized and productive work environment.
Keep all general supplies, such as markers, wipes, and scissors, in designated locations in the laboratory. At the same time, keep specialized equipment such as racks and test tubes easily accessible near your workbench. You can group these supplies by experiment type so that you can access them all at once when performing a particular test. To make things even easier, you can organize your equipment based on how often you use them. Items that aren’t used on a daily basis can be moved to storage shelves to create more space in the central work area.
Label Everything Strategically
Labelling is one of the most important practices when it comes to organizing a professional laboratory. Those in a medical laboratory technician course will learn how to collect blood and tissue samples from patients, log those samples, and prepare them for testing. An organized system is essential here for ensuring the accuracy of test results. Beyond patient samples, it’s important to take the time to label all stock solutions and reagents with the contents, the date it was opened, and the expiration date if relevant. That way, medical lab technicians can ensure the safety and quality of the products they’re using.
Solutions that you use daily can be brought out, while other solutions can be stored away. Once you have decided on storage locations, label all the shelves and cupboards so that you and other laboratory personnel can know exactly where to find everything. Not only will this ensure accuracy in testing procedures, but it will also promote clarity and efficiency in the workplace.
Perform Regular Audits After Your Medical Lab Technician Program
As a Medical Laboratory Assistant, you’ll also need to perform quality assurance of testing techniques conducted in the lab. It’s strongly recommended that a laboratory performs internal quality audits to ensure that test analyses continue to provide reliable results. Essentially, audits ensure that the laboratory has quality systems in place, follows good laboratory practices, and produces accurate data. Beyond that, audits help lab technicians to keep track of all stocks and supplies.
It’s worth performing an audit of your lab bench every few months to stay up to date on any supplies you need to order in time for testing. If there are supplies you haven’t used in more than a few months, you can consider storing them away to maintain a clean and orderly workbench. By prioritizing the organization of the workplace, lab technicians can promote the quality, productivity, and efficiency of their practices.
Are you interested in a medical laboratory technician program?
Contact Oxford College today!