Respect and Responsibility… with Apologies to Jane Austen

Extract

This past May, as our department held its annual pre-commencement robing ceremony, I was struck not for the first time with the importance of the ASCLS Code of Ethics. While we use a shortened version for the ceremony, the clarity of a professional's duty to the patient, to the profession, and to society struck me as more than just words. Since this is my last editorial, I ask your indulgence for some philosophical musing.

Our first duty is to the patient, not to the hospital or the physicians or the insurance companies and I believe that, as individuals, we truly understand this. But how often does this primacy become lost in the paperwork and the machinations of the healthcare system? How often do we begin to think of the 100th CBC or the next urine culture instead of the person from whom these specimens were taken? Should we be so content to increase our workload without assessing how quantity can impact quality? Have we taken an active role in assessing and maintaining quality in ourselves and in our own facilities? How often do we instruct on-the-job trainees just so results can get out without thinking about the quality of those results? Do physicians train people who didn't go to medical school?

Over the years, one of the most common complaints I have heard from laboratory practitioners is a variation of Rodney Dangerfield's “I don't get no respect”. Do we respect other laboratory practitioners, especially those on other shifts? Do we…