Celebrating the lab: Aaron Odegard on leadership, mentorship, and quality

How do you plan to celebrate Medical Laboratory Professionals week this year?

Medical Laboratory Professionals Week is a time to celebrate our laboratory team outside and inside the laboratory. At Baptist Health, this is a time for reflection and connection with all our team members across five hospitals and five free-standing ER laboratories. I have the privilege of coordinating medical laboratory professional’s week across the entire health system. This is our time to shine and advocate. Our mayor provides an official city proclamation. I work with our hospital communications team to have physical and digital banners across the hospitals. The hospital communication team also features the laboratory on the hospital social media channels. The hematology laboratory usually makes a themed video to share on the last day. Each day, different laboratory departments are featured at tables in the main hospital. The tables contain information, interactive activities, and photographic props for educating patients and other departments.

We coordinate with vendors to provide Lunch & Learns. We have hospital system-wide games and contests daily. There will be a lab coat decorating contest this year. Outside the laboratory, we have several activities for team members to come together. There are two 5K “runs” at different areas of the city. We have matching shirts and engage with the surrounding community as we “run” the 5K. These end with food gatherings. We’ll also have a painting with a twist party. People bring food and drinks. Laboratory team members get to be creative and catch up outside of our service to patients.

Do you have an interesting or unusual microbiology story you could share with us?

Over the past 20 years, there have been several cases that come to mind. I never thought I would have seen cases of Clostridium tetani, Corynebacterium botulinum, Naegleria fowlerii. These were all cases where knowing the patient, travel history, and exposures were crucial. The cases even demonstrated the impact beyond the walls of the laboratory involving public health laboratories in two of these cases.

The cases where the laboratory shapes the diagnosis and pivots the course of treatment are some of my favorites. One example of an unexpected pathogen was detected by performing a gram stain on a sputum. The clinical team had ordered gram stain, respiratory, and AFB cultures. Little did the clinicians know what would be discovered under the scope. The gram stain revealed parasites later identified as Strongyloides, a parasitic roundworm. This unexpected diagnosis by the laboratory impacted the course of treatment and became a great educational moment for our newer medical laboratory scientists.

How is automation reshaping laboratory workflows in your experience?

I have the unique perspective of coming into the clinical microbiology laboratory right before automation. We were still utilizing phenotypic biochemicals while starting to integrate automation. This gave me a strong foundation and allowed me to develop more critical problem-solving skills. Direct specimen testing, rapid identifications, automated specimen processing is allowing the clinical laboratory care team to work more efficiently. However, we still need to instill the importance of basic laboratory skills and resilience in our new medical laboratory professionals. As seasoned professionals, we have to continue to mentor and build these skills in the next generation. There will be times when automation is down. They can’t freeze. They have to have the skills to keep going because we still have to be able to serve our patients.

How do you prepare your team for an accreditation survey?

“Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.”  The Quality Assurance (QA) team instills this value in all of our laboratory team. All team members are involved in preparing for an accreditation survey. Each department has a weekly audit of a different department (fresh eyes in each department). We make sure that team members report non-conforming events and good catches. The goal is to build a culture of safety. Our QA department has monthly visits at each hospital and department. We review safety, proficiency testing, staff competency, and any other issues. We provide monthly audit reports and best practices.

Team members are given the opportunity to participate in our self-inspection process. We also participate in external peer inspections. Different team members are able to go and learn more about the inspection process, bring back best practices, and develop their accreditation skills. All these practices have been beneficial in excelling in our accreditation surveys.

What strategies have you found most effective in mentoring emerging laboratory professionals?

Emerging laboratory professionals value connection, purpose, and professional development. I start out by diving into the importance of each team member’s role in the laboratory. We have an enrichment week. The emerging laboratory professionals get to learn about various leadership roles inside and outside the laboratory, including LIS, QA, industry partners, and more. We attend hospital-wide safety huddles. This gives them a more comprehensive picture of the role of the laboratory care team. I give them some time to reflect. We meet a week later to discuss and outline some goals. I’m a mentor but also a sponsor. I advocate for the mentee and provide them with the same opportunities I was given by others. This can be partnering on a verification study to discussing a microbiology culture. Mentorship can be as simply as a five-minute conversation. I’ve also co-taught microbiology courses to provide a mentee the opportunity to gain teaching experience and provide access to opportunities. You have to keep in mind this is a long-term investment. Plant the seeds for trees you’ll never see.