Fear of AIDS among clinical laboratory scientists: a follow-up survey.

OBJECTIVE: To compare attitudes and behaviors about acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) of clinical laboratory scientists (CLSs) who are considering leaving the profession with those of CLSs planning to stay in the profession. DESIGN: Survey of a convenience sample of conference attendees. SETTING: Annual meetings of the New Jersey Society for Medical Technologists held April 4-5, 1990, in Woodbridge, New Jersey, and April 9-10, 1988, in Asbury Park, New Jersey. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 212 attendees at each conference. OUTCOME MEASURES: Scales measuring CLSs' knowledge of AIDS, fear of acquiring AIDS, satisfaction with employers' AIDS policies, and degree of compliance with universal blood precautions; and comparison of demographic data. RESULTS: Both surveys showed that, compared with CLSs planning to stay in the profession, CLSs considering leaving the field were more afraid of acquiring AIDS, less confident about their employers' AIDS policies, and equally knowledgeable about AIDS. CONCLUSIONS: CLSs who are considering leaving the profession are more cautious than those planning to stay, and the determinants that shape the fear of AIDS require further definition.

Attitudes and behaviors of medical technologists as a result of AIDS.

To determine the influence of AIDS on the attitudes and behaviors of medical technologists, a survey was taken which shows that one quarter are considering leaving the field. Individuals who plan to stay in the profession are less fearful of AIDS, more satisfied with the policies their organizations have established regarding AIDS, and less willing to associate a declining employment situation to AIDS. Improvement in safe laboratory practices is present in both groups, but the individuals considering a move out of the field exhibit the largest change. A surprising result in that fear of AIDS is not related to or only weakly associated with traditional demographic and occupational variables, suggesting that other more complex factors are influencing the views and work habits of medical technologists as a result of AIDS.

Fear of AIDS and attrition among medical technologists.

Attitudes toward AIDS were measured by a survey of 212 attendees at the annual meeting of the New Jersey Society for Medical Technology. Twenty five percent of the respondents were considering leaving the profession because of a fear of AIDS. In addition, almost half would not have chosen the field knowing they would be handling HIV-positive samples. This high degree of concern may be an important factor contributing to the shortage of medical technologists.

Coding A and coding B of the WISC are not equivalent tasks.

WISC Coding A and Coding B were administered to 50 subjects with minimal brain dysfunction and 75 controls whose ages ranged from 7 yr., 8 mo. and 0 days to 8 yr., 3 mo. and 30 days, with half of each group above 8 and half below. Standard scores showed significant differences between Coding A and Coding B suggesting that the two tasks are not equivalent forms. These differences suggested that separate information-processing modes related to hemispheric dominance may be present. Coding probably should not be used in calculating IQs but Coding B should be retained and separately utilized because it is directly related to symbol learning.