Description: This level involves recalling specific facts, terminology, basic concepts, and procedures learned through education and training. It's the foundation upon which higher-level thinking is built.

• Recalling normal reference ranges for common analytes (e.g., glucose, hemoglobin, potassium).
• Naming specific reagents used in a particular test kit.
• Listing the steps in order for performing a Gram stain.
• Identifying the correct anticoagulant tube type for specific tests (e.g., Lavender top/EDTA for CBC).
• Stating safety rules like the need for PPE in certain areas.
• Defining basic terms like hemolysis, lipemia, or icterus.

Description: This involves demonstrating comprehension by explaining ideas, concepts, or procedures in one's own words, interpreting information, and predicting consequences.

• Explaining the physiological principle behind a specific test (e.g., how glucose oxidase works in a glucose test).
• Interpreting the meaning of a "delta check" failure (a significant difference from a patient's previous result).
• Describing why quality control (QC) is performed daily on an instrument.
• Explaining the clinical significance of finding certain abnormal cells on a peripheral blood smear.
• Summarizing the key steps and purpose of a laboratory's critical value reporting procedure.
• Translating instrument error codes into potential causes.

Description: This level involves using learned knowledge, facts, techniques, and rules in concrete situations to solve problems or complete tasks. It's about putting theory into practice.

• Performing a manual differential count on a blood smear according to established procedure.
• Calculating the correct dilution needed for a sample result that is above the instrument's linearity.
• Operating a specific laboratory analyzer (e.g., chemistry analyzer, hematology analyzer) to run patient samples.
• Following the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to prepare reagents or calibrate an instrument.
• Plotting QC data on a Levey-Jennings chart.
• Selecting and performing the appropriate test based on a physician's order.

Description: This involves breaking down information into its constituent parts, identifying patterns, recognizing relationships between parts, differentiating between components, and understanding the underlying structure or assumptions.

• Troubleshooting an instrument malfunction by systematically evaluating potential causes (reagents, mechanics, electronics).
• Correlating results from different laboratory departments (e.g., low hemoglobin in hematology with positive occult blood in urinalysis/stool).
• Identifying patterns in QC data (e.g., recognizing a shift or trend indicating a potential problem).
• Differentiating between similar microscopic findings (e.g., different types of casts in urine, similar-looking bacterial colonies).
• Evaluating a set of patient results for internal consistency (e.g., RBC indices correlating with RBC morphology).
• Recognizing potential interferences (e.g., hemolysis affecting potassium levels).

Description: This level involves making judgments about the value, quality, or validity of information, ideas, methods, or results based on specific criteria or standards. It requires critical assessment.

• Assessing the validity of a questionable or unexpected test result by considering patient history, other results, and specimen integrity.
• Judging whether QC results are within acceptable limits according to Westgard rules or lab policy, and determining appropriate corrective action.
• Critiquing the suitability of a specimen received for testing (e.g., rejecting a hemolyzed sample for potassium testing).
• Deciding if further investigation or confirmatory testing is warranted based on initial findings.
• Evaluating the effectiveness of a corrective action taken for an instrument or QC issue.
• Comparing the performance characteristics (e.g., precision, accuracy) of two different testing methods or instruments.

Description: This level involves putting elements together to form a coherent or functional whole; reorganizing elements into a new pattern or structure. It involves generating, planning, or producing new ideas or products.

• Developing a new Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for a recently implemented test or instrument.
• Designing a validation plan to evaluate a new laboratory analyzer before it's put into routine use.
• Creating a training checklist or competency assessment tool for new employees or students.
• Proposing and designing a workflow modification to improve efficiency or safety in the lab.
• Developing a novel algorithm or flowchart for interpreting complex test results (e.g., coagulation studies).
• Generating hypotheses and designing small studies to investigate recurring issues or optimize processes within the lab (often at a specialist or supervisory level).