A survey of the working environment of medical technologists in South Africa

Abstract

Background: Advancing medical laboratory and genomic testing is reliant on a workforce equipped with the skills required to perform and interpret the complexity of new generation assays. In certain areas, challenges in recruiting and retaining qualified laboratory staff have led to shortages of experienced professionals which may negatively influence diagnostic services. Local research in this field is limited, and this study aimed to evaluate how medical technologists and technicians perceived and related to their working environment. Methods: A mixed methods study was conducted to evaluate respondents’ perceptions of factors influencing workplace experience such as interpersonal relationships, compliance to continuing professional development (CPD), work ethic and scope of practice within the medical laboratory. A link to a web-based survey was distributed to an expert group attending the 2015 congress of the Society of Medical Laboratory Technology of South Africa (SMLTSA), Port Elizabeth. Results: Survey results indicated that 27.5% of respondents were not happy with their career choice, notably the younger generation and public sector participants, where the latter reported significantly lower salaries than those in other sectors (p < 0.05). Only 54.2% reported being active members of the SMLTSA. Difficulties in attending professional development activities were described and deviation from scope of practice noted. Some respondents felt undervalued, reporting work ethic as satisfactory. Interpersonal tension was perceived between certain groups and the level of education was least likely to be related to salary scale. Most of the respondents (98.6%) were registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA). Conclusion: The majority of participants reported to be satisfied with their career choice. This study was conducted prior to the introduction of the professional degree in medical laboratory science and may not be reflective of the current views of this sector of laboratory staff. However the study serves as a basis for further research using a representative sample of different laboratory professionals to assess job satisfaction and factors affecting retention of staff in medical diagnostic laboratories.