Standard 22C Learning Exercises

Recommended Materials Guide to Accreditation Glossary of Terms

Learning Outcomes Recognize objectives required for learning experiences outside normally scheduled hours. Define service work Review a service work policy and procedure to insure it meets the requirements for Standard 22C. Insure experiences at different clinical sites are comparable to achieve entry level competencies.

Standard 22C Learning Experiences The learning experiences needed in the curriculum to develop and support entry level competencies must be properly sequenced and include instructional materials, classroom presentations, discussion, demonstrations, laboratory sessions, supervised practice and experience. 1. Student experiences must be educational and balanced so that all competencies can be achieved. 2. Student experiences at different clinical sites must be comparable to enable all students to achieve entry level competencies. 3. Policies and processes by which students may perform service work must be published and made known to all concerned in order to avoid practices in which students are substituted for regular staff. After demonstrating proficiency, students, with qualified supervision, may be permitted to perform procedures. Service work by students in clinical settings outside of academic hours must be noncompulsory.

Standard 22C In order to develop and achieve entry level competencies, the coursework must be sequenced. There needs to be a logical schedule of coursework.

Standard 22C Learning experiences can include: Instructional materials such as handouts or on-line education Classroom presentations such as traditional lectures or on-line education Discussions which can occur either face to face or on-line Demonstrations such as video or face to face Laboratory sessions such as in a student laboratory setting Supervised practice and experience as occurs in the clinical rotations

Standard 22C1 Student experiences must be educational and balanced so all competencies can be achieved Some student learning experiences may occur outside the normally scheduled hours These experiences can occur on a second or third shift in a clinical laboratory Objectives must be present to document the necessity for the learning to occur outside the normally scheduled hours Often the objectives may address the necessity for experiencing procedures only performed on another shift Because many students begin their laboratory career on the second or third shift, the objective may relate the need to experience the workflow and culture on these shifts

Standard 22C2 The use of multiple clinical sites for supervised practice and experience is acceptable. The key is to insure that the supervised practice and experience is comparable for each students to achieve entry level competencies. While some students may experience more learning opportunities at larger facilities, the program must insure that all students achieve the same required core competencies. Any additional learning opportunities experienced by only some of students should be considered enrichment experience and not essential to the curriculum

Standard 22C3 The program needs to have policies and procedures that defines when a student can perform service work. The policy must be published, distributed to the student as well as to each clinical affiliate. Service work is considered performing tests on patient samples as part of the normal workflow in a clinical setting. Once students have demonstrated proficiency, they can perform procedures during the normally scheduled program hours but it must always be under the supervision of a qualified instructor.

Standard 22C3 Students cannot be used to take the place of regular staff at any time during the normally scheduled program hours. Once a student has demonstrated proficiency in a clinical area, such as urinalysis, the individual can be hired in the clinical laboratory. In this situation the student functions as an laboratory employee and not as student. The student’s work hours as an employee must be outside the normally scheduled program hours. Any service work performed by a student as an employee must be voluntary and non-compulsory.

Learning Assessment The service work policy must be: Published Distributed to the students Distributed to each clinical affiliate All of the above

Learning Assessment A MLS program has several clinical affiliates. One student at a large medical center is allowed to perform molecular testing for infectious organisms in microbiology under supervision. Another student performs molecular testing in hematology in a small reference laboratory under supervision. These two clinical rotations: Can be considered comparable for meeting the program’s required competencies Are not considered comparable for meeting the program’s required competencies Should be considered service work Are not considered educational and balanced

Learning Assessment Determine if the following objective is appropriate for use for a MLS education course learning experience outside of normally scheduled program hours. In order to meet the needs of our customers, the CLS student shall teach a three hour evening session (5:30-8:30 pm) as part of their education course requirements. a. True b. False

Learning Assessment After a MLS student achieves proficiency in phlebotomy, the individual is required to draw blood from 5:00 to 7:00 am the remainder of the program year. This is: Considered appropriate Not acceptable because service work must be noncompulsory not acceptable because the procedures must be supervised by a qualified instructor. Acceptable if the policy is published