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. 2021 Apr 30;10(1):1225.
doi: 10.4102/ajlm.v10i1.1225. eCollection 2021.

Improving laboratory quality and capacity through leadership and management training: Lessons from Zambia 2016-2018

Felicity Gopolang  1 , Fales Zulu-Mwamba  2 , Davy Nsama  2 , Annika Kruuner  3 , Dailes Nsofwa  4 , Ishmael Kasvosve  5 , Royce Gomo  6 , Tiny Motlhabane  7 , Bhavna Chohan  1 , Olusegun Soge  1 , Daniel Osterhage  1 , Nancy Campbell  1 , Michael Noble  8 , Ann Downer  1 , Jean-Frederic Flandin  1 , Anya Nartker  1 , Catherine Koehn  1 , Linda K Nonde  9 , Aaron Shibemba  2 , Clement B Ndongmo  10 , Martin Steinau  10 , Lucy A Perrone  1
Affiliations

Improving laboratory quality and capacity through leadership and management training: Lessons from Zambia 2016-2018

Felicity Gopolang et al. Afr J Lab Med. .

Abstract

Background: Competent leadership and management are imperative for delivering quality laboratory services; however, few laboratory managers receive job-specific training in organisational management and leadership.

Objective: To develop and evaluate participants' competencies in organisational leadership and management as measured through learner and laboratory quality improvement assessments.

Methods: This professional development programme employed a mentored, blended learning approach, utilising in-person didactic and online training, with the practical application of a capstone project in the laboratories. Programme impact was evaluated through a series of pre- and post-laboartory assessments using the Stepwise Laboratory Improvement Process Towards Accreditation checklist, as well as learner-competency assessments through online quizzes and discussions.

Results: From 2016 to 2018, 31 managers and quality officers from 16 individual laboratories graduated from the programme having completed capstone projects addressing areas in the entire laboratory testing process. Laboratories increased their compliance with the International Organization for Standardization 15189 standard and all but two laboratories significantly increased their accreditation scores. Two laboratories gained three stars, two laboratories gained two stars, and five laboratories gained one star. Five laboratories subsequently achieved International Organization for Standardization 15189 accreditation in 2019.

Conclusion: This programme taught leadership theory to laboratory managers and allowed them to implement leadership and management practices in the laboratory setting. Programmes such as this complement existing laboratory quality management training programmes such as Strengthening Laboratory Management Toward Accreditation.

Keywords: leadership; quality management; workforce development.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no financial or personal relationships that may have inappropriately influenced them in writing this article.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Structural overview for the laboratory leadership and management programme in Zambia, 2016–2018. Two cohorts of participants from 16 laboratories across Zambia participated from 2016–2018, each cohort taking 9 months to complete the programme work. Both programme years utilised a similar approach to adult experiential learning, utilising a blended solution of online and face-to-face instruction, a robust online discussion board as well as close faculty and mentorship support for individual capstone projects conducted at participant’s home laboratories. Orientation and finale sessions were conducted in Lusaka. Seventeen laboratory managers from 16 laboratories completed the 2016–2017 programme and completed 16 unique capstone projects. For the second cohort, 16 laboratory managers and 15 quality managers completed the programme and conducted 15 unique capstone projects.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Changes in laboratory audit scores before (2016) and after (2018) the Laboratory leadership and management programme in Zambia, 2016-2018. Participants and representatives from the Ministry of Health conducted baseline Stepwise Laboratory Improvement Program Towards Accreditation audits of each laboratory at the beginning (2016) and end of the programme (2018). Audit scores are shown as whole numbers with a maximum score of 275 points.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Participants’ self-perceived changes in key abilities after laboratory leadership and management programme in Zambia, 2016–2018. A Likert scale-based survey conducted of all programme graduates was conducted in 2018 by an external organisation. Graduates of the programme self-reported key changes in abilities as a result of the programme (n = 24 respondants) and percentage of each response were calculated and shown here.
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