The following list of essential requirements is meant as a guideline for both student and faculty in the Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences. If for any reason during the course of the CLT/CLS programs you are unable to perform any of these functions, you will be academically withdrawn from the program.

Please read the following requirements, then print and sign the essential requirements form and give it to the CLS department secretary, who will place it in your student file.

Essential Requirements, WSU CLT/CLS Program
(functional expectations itemized by NAACLS)

As a CLS student, you must be able to:

1. Observe laboratory demonstrations in which biologicals (i.e. body fluids, culture materials, tissue sections, and cellular specimens) are tested for their biochemical, hematological, immunological, microbiological and histochemical components.
2. Characterize the color, characteristics, clarity, and viscosity of biologicals, reagents or chemical reaction products.
3. Employ a clinical grade binocular microscope to discriminate among fine structural and color (hue, shading, and intensity) differences of microscopic specimens.
4. Read and comprehend text, numbers and graphs displayed in print and on a video monitor.
5. Move freely and safely about a laboratory.
6. Reach laboratory benchtops and shelves, patients lying in hospital beds or patients seated in specimen collection furniture.
7. Travel to clinical laboratory sites for practical experience.
8. Perform moderately taxing continuous physical work, often requiring prolonged sitting over several hours.
9. Maneuver phlebotomy and culture acquisition equipment to safely collected valid laboratory specimens from patients.
10. Control laboratory equipment (pipettes, inoculating loops, test tubes) and adjust instruments to perform laboratory procedures.
11. Use an electronic keyboard to operate laboratory instruments and to calculate, record, evaluate and transmit laboratory information.
12. Read and comprehend technical and professional materials (textbooks, magazine and journal articles, handbooks, and instruction manuals).
13. Follow verbal and written instructions in order to correctly and independently perform laboratory test procedures.
14. Clearly instruct patients, nurses and other non-laboratory personnel prior to specimen collection.
15. Effectively confidentially and sensitively converse with patients, and other non-laboratory personnel regarding laboratory tests.
16. Communicate with faculty members, fellow students, staff and other health card professionals verbally and in a recorded format.
17. Independently prepare papers, prepare laboratory reports and take paper, computer and laboratory practical exams.
18. Possess the following skills: comprehension, measurement, mathematical calculation, reasoning, integration, analysis, comparison, self-expression and criticism.
19. Be able to exercise sufficient judgment to recognize and correct performance deviations.
20. Be able to manage the use of time and to systemize actions in order to complete professional and technical tasks within realistic constraints.
21. Possess the emotional health necessary to effectively employ intellect and exercise appropriate judgment.
22. Be flexible and creative and adapt to professional and technical change.
23. Recognize potentially hazardous materials, equipment, and situations and proceed safely in order to minimize risk of injury to patients, self, and nearby individuals.
24. Adapt to working with unpleasant biologicals.
25. Support and promote the activities of fellow students and of health care professionals. Promotion of peers helps furnish a team approach to learning, task completion, problem solving and patient care.
26. Be honest, compassionate, ethical and responsible. You must be forthright about errors or uncertainty. You must be able to critically evaluate your own performance, accept constructive criticism, and look for a way to improve (participate in enriched educational activities). You must be able to evaluate the performance of fellow students and tactfully offer constructive comments.