Fire Safety
As a strict requirement of OSHA, the facility must ensure that there is a proper Fire Prevention Plan that is necessary to avert any kind of loss of either life or property.
Medical and First Aid
All the employees who work in this department must have the necessary component of both medical and first-aid providers. This is in order to ensure that any emergency situation that arises can be met with the appropriate solution.
Personal Protective Equipment
Due to the high risk of infection that is associated with the samples in the laboratory, it is essential that the clinical laboratory department ensure that each operation in the department is thoroughly assessed in order to ensure that no employee handle potentially infectious samples without wearing the appropriate Personal Protective Equipment. It is therefore a MUST as it falls under one of the OSHA requirements.
Hepatitis B Vaccination
All the clinical staff is supposed to be vaccinated against Hepatitis B since it is a JCIA requirement. It has been proved that once an individual has completed the Hepatitis B course, he/she will definitely have a long lasting protection against individuals who are immune-competent; this means that booster doses will no longer be required. This may be so but it is highly recommended that testing on post-vaccination serological in carried out after the third vaccine dose in approximately 3 months.
All employees will are provided with a chance to undertake intra-dermal Hepatitis B vaccination. Failure of sero-conversion will also mean that the hospital will not allow an individuals participation in various procedures which are prone to exposure. The exposure prone procedures belong to a subset of the invasive procedures, and have derived their characteristics through a potential for direct contact between the health workers skin i.e. thumb or fingers; and sharp instruments which are used in surgery, sharp tissue (i.e teeth) in the body cavities or other body sites which have poor visualization or are confined such as the mouth.
Exposure to a blood-borne virus to the any employee is managed according to the set OSHA protocols. The manager should be contacted incase concerns about any particular procedure arise.
Confidentiality
• One should never disclose information about patients or any staff member to a third party over any form of communication channels.
• The staff member's records should be given same degree of confidentiality and care as patient records
• All clinical notes that are made about patients must be disposed in a proper manner after being shredded. This action must be performed in the respective departments in which the notes are taken. This action does not however be performed on clinical records.
• All the staff must be very careful when discussing or disclosing patients and their treatment regimes with their colleagues. Personal information must never be disclosed as this constitutes a serious violation of personal privacy.
• One must never include any identifying information regarding patients in their areas of assignments
• More information regarding the confidentiality of patients is available in Aramco Health Center's policies and procedures.
Sonography Department
The Sonogrophy department is very crucial for the proper operation of Aramco Health Center.This is because it offers ultrasound testing services.These services include general sonography, vascular sonography and cardiac sonography.
The services in this department are used as diagnostic measures in order to visualize certain subcutaneous body structures such as joints, tendons, muscles and other internal organs. The aim of which is to visualize possible pathology or the existence of internal lesions. The department is fully accredited by JRCMMS. The services from this department aid physicians in gathering the vital data that is necessary for the making of proper diagnostic decisions. The department offers services to patients from different backgrounds. The department liaises with Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) in order to improve its efficiency in providing quality service to people of all...
In case of ineffective administration of the above roles by the chosen individual then the individual would be subject to expulsion from duty with a revocation of their laboratory accreditations.
Roles of the manager
In case critical personnel leaves the sonography department, it is the important to replace them immediately with another one who is also fully accredited by ARDMS and SDMS. The manager must ensure that all operations at the sonography department take place smoothly and that all the staff at the department are qualified and accredited to perform their various roles.
Roles of the general sonographer, cardiac sonographer, and vascular technologist
The manager will ensure that all the sonographers are able to perform the following roles effectively. This is in accordance to CAAHEP standards. The sonographers must be able to:
1. Obtain and review all the pertinent patient history together with all the supporting clinical data necessary to enable optimum diagnosis to be delivered.
2. Perform the necessary procedures and also record the pathogenic, physiologic and pathogenic data for interpretation by the relevant physician.
3. Must be execute his roles with Optimum discretion
4. Must demonstrate proper and excellent communication skills with collegues and patients.
5. Be professional and ethical in his/her acts.
6. Must be able to adequately educate patients with the education related to medical use of ultrasound in the diagnosis of various conditions.
Dietetics Department
The Dietetic department is a fully accredited by ADA and is concerned with the provision of the necessary dietary advice to the patients.
Leadership and Supervision
The laboratory must be headed by board-certified professional who is accredited by ADA.
Vacancies
All vacancies must be advertised two months prior to the actual hiring date
Bibliography
AIUM, (2009).Standards and Guidelines for the Accreditation of Ultrasound Practices
ARDMS (2010) Introducing...MY ARDMS
http://www.ardms.org/default.asp?ContentID=30
ASCP (2010).Certification
http://www.ascp.org/FunctionalNavigation/certification.aspx
ASCP (2010).Membership
http://www.ascp.org/MainMenu/laboratoryprofessionals/Membership.aspx
AABB (2008). Immunohematology Reference Laboratories
Belanger, A (1998). JCAHO/CLIA Retrospective. MLO; 30(2):46-8
CAHEEP (2007) Standards and Guidelines for the Accreditation of Educational Programs in Diagnostic Medical Sonography
Belanger, A (2010) Tips for complying with JCAHO's most challenging laboratory standards. Clinical Laboratory Science. FindArticles.com. 08 Apr, 2010. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3890/is_199805/ai_n8806522/
JCAHO,(1996), How to Meet the Most Frequently Cited Laboratory Standards:
JCAHO, (1997)Perspectives. Oakbrook Terrace, IL. Top 10 most challenging laboratory standards: Tips for future compliance; Vol. 17, No. 3; May-June, 1997.
JRC-DMS (2010) JRCDMS Policies and procedures
OSHA, (2010) OSHA Fact Sheet: Hazard Communication Standard
http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document-p_table=FACT_SHEETS&p_id=151&p_text_version=FALSE
OSHA, (2010) Model Plans and Programs for the OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens and Hazard Communications
http://www.osha.gov/Publications/osha3186.html
OSHA, (2010) Exit Routes Standards
http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document-p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=12886
OSHA, (2010) Emergency Action Plan Standard
http://www.osha.gov/Publications/osha3088.html
