2003 Workforce Survey of Hospital Clinical Laboratories in New Jersey

Extract

The clinical laboratory personnel shortage has reached significant proportions in many areas of the country and there is growing concern about its impact on the accessibility and quality of clinical laboratory services. For the years 2002–2012, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projected a need for 138,000 new clinical laboratory technologists and technicians, or approximately 13,800 per year, due to growth and attrition from the field.¹ On the other hand, in 2002, there were only 3,548 clinical laboratory technician/medical laboratory technician (CLT/MLT) and clinical laboratory scientist/medical technologist (CLS/MT) graduates in the U.S.² If the current imbalance between vacancies and graduates continues, the national shortage of clinical laboratory personnel may grow by more than 10,000 laboratorians per year. In surveys conducted by the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP), vacancy rates in 2000 for medical technologists (MTs) and medical laboratory technicians (MLTs) were 11.1% and 14.3% nationally and 14.9% and 24.5% in the northeast; in 2002 those rates showed a decrease to 7% and 8.6% nationally and 8.3% and 3.5% in the northeast. Although the vacancy rates in the latter study decreased to single digits, the vacancies are nevertheless noteworthy in terms of the actual number of vacant positions, taking into consideration a national workforce estimated at 297,000 clinical laboratory technologists and technicians.¹

A Coalition for New Jersey Clinical Laboratory Personnel was formed in April 2002 to study the extent of and address a perceived shortage of clinical laboratory personnel in New Jersey. This coalition consists of twenty-eight members representing hospital…

ABBREVIATIONS: CT = cytotechnologist; HLT = histotechnologist; HT = histotechnician; MLT = medical laboratory technician; MT = medical technologist.