Introduction
The global health sector is expected to grow considerably in the next several decades due to changes in the age composition of a population. The aging population contributes to the increased need for healthcare services, which is why this field will be growing in terms of employment opportunities. In addition to individuals whose job duties are based on evaluating clients and providing medical care to them, the healthcare industry also needs highly qualified specialists able to plan, direct, and coordinate health services. As a result, healthcare managers play an essential role in the overall efficacy of a healthcare setting.
Currently, numerous people are extremely interested in healthcare, although they would prefer developing their administrative skills instead of providing direct patient care. In turn, these individuals are a perfect match for the position of a healthcare manager. On the one hand, this job position does not require taking direct responsibility for the health of patients. On the other hand, healthcare managers are required to determine the impact of health policy and laws on clinical institutions, as well as manage healthcare professionals in various capacities. Thus, to coordinate the highest quality care and ensure that patients are served to the fullest potential, each healthcare organization should have a healthcare manager.
The Role of the Healthcare Manager Based on Biblical Principles
Christian values have always played a crucial role in the area of healthcare, as they have been used to make the best decisions when it comes to the health and life of multiple patients. From the perspective of healthcare management and administration, Christ’s message of love and compassion was initially considered during the Middle Ages (English Standard Version Bible, 2001). It was the period when the first hospital institutions were operated. According to the Bible, God created the whole universe and two people to take care of it. As a result, the main message that should be understood is that humans are managers who are acting on God’s behalf. In other words, people are required to take responsibility for everything that God has placed under their control. In the context of healthcare, managers should take into account the principles of patience, forgiveness, and acceptance of others to serve their functions effectively.
Taking into account that healthcare managers fill leadership roles, they should be able to maintain a high level of communication in the team. Based on the information from the Bible, this goal can only be achieved if the principles of servanthood and conflict resolution are used. Moreover, it is important to keep God at the center by focusing on the spiritual needs of patients in the first place (Roohi et al., 2020). For instance, it can be done by implementing faith-based services that can assist patients through difficult times. At the same time, patients should have the opportunity to understand their health care decisions regularly. In this case, healthcare administrators should develop patient advocacy programs that are intended to increase the level of patients’ awareness when it comes to medical terminology and self-management of various conditions.
Clinical Laboratory Manager: Demand, Skills, Knowledge, and Abilities
Nowadays, laboratory results are tremendously important in the healthcare industry, as they are used to develop appropriate treatment plans for patients. To ensure that testing is performed accurately, numerous public and private clinical institutions hire clinical laboratory managers. At the first sight, their duties and duties of clinical laboratory technologists are similar, as they both perform, design, and oversee test procedures. However, the scope of the manager’s duties is much wider. For example, these individuals are also required to analyze requests for tests, assist with budgets, as well as ensure high levels of safety, quality, and accuracy of the received results (Croxatto & Greub, 2017). Furthermore, clinical laboratory managers handle the administrative side of running a lab. To offer technologists the opportunity to spend time only on testing, managers are required to buy supplies and manage patient data. Accordingly, these specialists should be able to combine business skills and healthcare knowledge at the same time.
Most frequently, many applicants are aiming to take this job position, as it is associated with considerable career growth. For instance, the career is expected to grow 18% in the next seven years, thereby producing over 70,000 job opportunities across the U.S. (Hanley et al., 2016). Such considerable growth can be explained by high salary potential. It depends on multiple factors, such as previous job experience, level of theoretical knowledge, location, and the healthcare facility, although the average salary of the clinical laboratory manager is around $103,000 per year (Hanley et al., 2016). Also, considering that people of this profession work in one of the fastest-growing areas of healthcare, they are expected to build their career way faster than representatives of other areas.
Simultaneously, to take the job position of clinical laboratory manager, it is essential to have at least a Bachelor’s degree in the areas of epidemiology, health services management, or environmental health and safety. However, in addition to education, the person aiming to take this job position should have job experience in related fields of healthcare. For instance, numerous individuals work as medical technologists or research assistants before applying for the position of clinical laboratory manager. In this case, it is essential to know the areas of microbiology, chemistry, statistics, and anatomy. At the same time, it is important to note that these specialists have the opportunity to work either in public or private institutions. In spite of the fact that the majority of people work in public hospitals, there is a huge demand for managers operating in private labs and hospitals.
In the context of skills and abilities, clinical laboratory managers should be knowledgeable in both medical technology and management. It is important for the person applying for this job position to know biological science, specimen procurement processes, principles of laboratory testing, as well as supervision methods and techniques. Taking into consideration that the majority of the time these specialists are required to communicate with various units, it is tremendously important to have well-developed communication and leadership skills. In terms of technical skills, it is crucial to be professional in budgeting, staff management, scheduling, supervision, case management, and quality assurance. In turn, the main soft skills required in this field of healthcare are collaboration, planning, and problem-solving.
The typical working day of a clinical laboratory manager is based on several significant parts. First, this person is required to determine if there were any issues from the previous shift’s testing procedures. Second, it is necessary to check the quality of current tests. The next half of the day is usually dedicated to projecting meetings with other healthcare teams and assisting with budgets. Hence, both healthcare knowledge and management skills are required to successfully serve the functions of a clinical laboratory manager.
A Career Development Plan to Obtain the KSAs Needed
To obtain appropriate KSAs (knowledge, skills, abilities), it is essential to develop a comprehensive career development plan. This goal can be successfully achieved with the help of the SMART goal framework. This tool stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-based. In other words, this approach is usually used to help guide goal setting from the perspective of employment. When it comes to the profession of a clinical laboratory manager, it is essential to develop a combination of multifaceted skills and abilities.
The main goal of this plan is to obtain a job as a clinical laboratory manager within three months after graduating with a Master’s degree in health administration. This goal can be considered specific as it outlines the final goal that should be achieved in a specific period of time. Also, the success of this career purpose can be measured by the number of job offers that invite a potential employee to work in the position of clinical laboratory manager in a certain healthcare facility.
Moreover, considering that this goal is realistic and practically possible, it can also be regarded as achievable. Master’s degree program provides appropriate theoretical information that is needed for the profession of a clinical laboratory manager, which is why the intention to apply for this position can be successfully achieved. Simultaneously, this goal is relevant and time-based, as the applicant sets a specific deadline that should be met in the field that has been studied for several years.
The Impact of a Successful Laboratory Manager
Employee engagement has always been a tremendously essential factor affecting the quality of work performed by the entire team. Based on the information from one of the research studies (Lippi & Da Rin, 2019), approximately 75% of people who voluntarily leave their jobs do it because of their managers. They are most frequently dissatisfied with the communication in the team, which means that laboratory managers should take responsibility for the whole working environment. To improve the quality of services provided by the team of laboratory workers, clinical managers are required to follow several important strategies. For instance, these specialists should have an open-door policy that is based on the idea that anyone can ask questions and voice concerns regardless of their job position. Furthermore, leaders should be open to reciprocal feedback and constructive criticism.
In addition, each clinical laboratory manager should pay a considerable amount of attention to team-building activities. For example, after-work pizza parties, cooking classes, and sports activities are expected to motivate medical staff to work together and develop their strengths. At the same time, some activities can boost teamwork among coworkers regularly. For example, conversations over coffee help improve both formal and informal communication among laboratory workers, which is why they should be allowed to take a break of 10-15 minutes every two hours (Carey et al., 2018). Finally, diverse issues should be identified and analyzed by laboratory managers to avoid potential cases of discrimination based on ethnic background, race, and sexual orientation. According to various research studies, the prevalence of workplace discrimination can reach up to 25%. Therefore, to reduce the magnitude of this problem in a certain working environment, leaders should develop effective communication.
Tips for Efficient Lab Management
Efficient laboratory management consists of several significant elements that should be considered by each clinical manager. First, it is crucial to have a high level of awareness of laboratory terms and techniques that are frequently used by highly skilled scientists or engineers in lab settings. Taking into account that clinical managers spend the majority of their working time in laboratories, they should be able to communicate with colleagues effectively. Second, it is essential to get acquainted with the laboratory staff personally to develop trusting relationships in the team. Furthermore, each manager should take appropriate measures to stay up-to-date and acquire new skills. With the rapid advancement in science and technology, numerous laboratory trends have changed. Therefore, to lead the team of qualified laboratory specialists, it is important to join professional training sessions regularly.
Planning is an integral part of management, which is why it should also be considered by professional laboratory managers. For example, it is recommended to develop a five-year plan for the laboratory. As a result, all team members could work towards the same goal, while the manager would be able to determine the progress achieved by the staff. In this plan, it is important to highlight steps that should be followed by each team member individually and the whole team. This type of strategy is predicted to encourage medical staff to develop new skills and improve their knowledge, whereas the healthcare facility can gain a better reputation on the market. This plan should include clear mission and vision statements that summarize the main goals of the teamwork, as well as the role of each team member in the process of achieving common goals.
Conclusion
The healthcare industry plays a crucial role in modern society, as it is strongly associated with the overall physical and mental health status of the global population. In turn, to obtain detailed information about the health of a patient, clinicians tend to rely on laboratory tests. Currently, these tests are used to identify changes in the health of the patient. Nowadays, almost any type of chemical component can be found in blood or urine. As a part of regular checkups, laboratory tests are beneficial for detecting chronic and acute diseases in the earliest stages. Accordingly, laboratory personnel takes a vast amount of responsibility for the health status of the patients.
However, to become a qualified clinical laboratory manager, it is important to gain appropriate skills, knowledge, and abilities. In addition to obtaining at least a bachelor’s degree, potential specialists are required to develop analytical, management, and communication skills. The overall goal of the laboratory manager is to oversee the operations that take place in laboratories to ensure that safety protocols are followed. Hence, having theoretical knowledge in the field of healthcare is not enough to serve the functions of these specialists. It is crucial to have working experience as a medical technologist or research assistant before applying for the position of clinical laboratory manager. Subsequently, the supervision of the work of clinical laboratory scientists and technicians requires a multifaceted skill set.
References
English Standard Version Bible. (2001). ESV Online. Web.
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Croxatto, A., & Greub, G. (2017). Project management: importance for diagnostic laboratories.Clinical Microbiology and Infection, 23(7), 434-440. Web.
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Lippi, G., & Da Rin, G. (2019). Advantages and limitations of total laboratory automation: A personal overview.Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (CCLM), 57(6), 802-811. Web.
Roohi, G., Mahmoodi, G., & Khoddam, H. (2020). Knowledge implementation in health care management: A qualitative study.BMC Health Services Research, 20(1), 1-20. Web.