Using clinical laboratory specialists for in-service education: an important aspect of cross training.

Cross training of clinical laboratory professionals is on the rise because of hospital mergers and downsizing. Confusion and uncertainty during mergers, plus the added stress of cross training or learning a new "bench" can be overwhelming. Utilizing clinical laboratory specialists to provide continuing education as support for cross training laboratorians can be beneficial to both the laboratory employee and to management. This manuscript describes a model for continuing education support for laboratory personnel returning to the hematology "bench" after many years away from the high complexity level tests in this area of the clinical laboratory. The article addresses the cross-functioning role of laboratory specialists as educators as well as high-level bench technologists. This model for in-service education may serve several purposes, such as documentation for continuing education and personnel competency testing, while giving other laboratorians support for learning new tasks and enhancing their resume.