Essentials of Medical Laboratory Practice

Book Preface

The clinical laboratory plays an important role in patient care by providing timely, accurate, reliable test results to health-care team members. The results provided by the clinical laboratory are used by appropriate team members to make important diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring decisions. With recent advances in technology, some laboratory tests may now be performed by appropriately trained individuals in alternative settings, such as in physician offices. Medical assistants and phlebotomists may be called upon to perform this testing. It is thus imperative that individuals who collect or oversee collection of samples for laboratory testing, perform laboratory tests, or interpret laboratory test results be educated in this important area of medicine.

The purpose of this text is to introduce the reader to the clinical laboratory. The text is organized into six sections. Each of these sections is presented as a complete package. Section I covers the structure and organization of the clinical laboratory and important considerations, including regulations, safety, quality, legal and ethical issues, and laboratory equipment. Section II introduces the importance of techniques associated with proper specimen collection and handling. The remaining sections are dedicated to specific laboratory tests organized by general type: hematology, chemistry, urinalysis, and immunology.

Each section opens with On the Horizon, an overview of the chapters in that section. On the Horizon consists of a content overview, and a description of the relevance of the content to medical assistants and other health-care professionals. A patient scenario called Case in Point follows, and then a series of questions about upcoming content, called Questions for Consideration. Completing this section are brief narratives that summarize each chapter in the section.

Chapters begin with a Chapter Outline for easy reference. Learning Outcomes appear next. These serve as a helpful resource to guide readers as they study chapter content. A list of References to the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) and the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES) standards appear after the Learning Outcomes. Key Terms then follow organized in alphabetical order. Each key term is bolded and defined, as appropriate, where the term first appears in the text. Test Your Knowledge sections offer self-assessment questions coded to the appropriate learning outcomes and are strategically placed throughout the chapter. Tables, figures, and procedures coded to CAAHEP and ABHES standards complement the organized, logically presented chapter content. Following a chapter summary readers have an opportunity to review content through a series of questions and a chapter case study, a component called Time to Review. A list of resources and suggested readings is included at the end of each chapter. The feature What Does It All Mean? is located at the end of each section and reiterates the purpose of the section and its importance to medical assistants and other health-care professionals. The case study introduced in On the Horizon is revisited here and discussed. This discussion does not include the answers to questions posed for consideration. The answers to those questions may be found in the Instructor’s Guide. An interactive CD-ROM is packaged with this text, allowing students an opportunity to apply their knowledge in a variety of situations. There are a total of 29 exercises available in the following formats: Don’t Tip the Scale, Drag and Drop, Multiple Choice, Picture It, and Quiz Show.

Students will find an additional 12 interactive activities on the F.A. Davis website at http://www.davisplus.fadavis. com/ keyword Lieseke. Instructors will find an electronic test bank, chapter-by-chapter PowerPoints, and numerous other instructional resources on DavisPlus. In addition to the core chapter content, a comprehensive list of abbreviations is included at the beginning of the book for quick reference. A list of all CAAHEP and ABHES competencies covered in each chapter also appears in the front of the book, to quickly access information about specific procedures. A list of reference ranges for common laboratory tests are included in the appendices and a complete glossary of key terms follows.

We’ve made every effort to create an accurate, readerfriendly, informative text that contains practical information about the clinical laboratory and the medical assistant’s role in it. We hope you find this book to be a rich and rewarding resource for your studies.

— Constance A. Lieseke
Elizabeth A. Zeibig