Why is specimen labeling important?

Accurately identifying patients and correctly labeling specimens are critical to ensure patient safety. If a specimen in not accurately identified, it can lead to delayed or wrong diagnoses, missed or incorrect treatments, blood transfusion errors, and more.

What information must be put on specimen label?

Each package should contain a line list with the following information for each included specimen: patient name, ID number, date collected, specimen type, clinical contact name and phone number, and submitter contact name, affiliation, phone number and e-mail address.

When should the phlebotomist label the specimen of tubes during blood collection Why?

A properly labeled sample is essential so that the results of the test match the patient. a) Label all tubes in the presence of the patient in the drawing area and only after the blood have been drawn.

When should the blood tube be labeled with patients information?

Although there is no unquestionable evidence to support a recommendation that blood tubes should be labeled before or after venipuncture, we believe that labeling blood tubes before drawing blood should be considered a safer procedure than post-collection labeling, at least until active tubes (e.g., equipped with …

Why do blood samples get rejected?

The most frequent cause of rejection of sample—43.8\% of cases—was a clot in the total blood and/or plasma sample, followed by insufficient sample volume (24\%); the reason for rejection by hemolyzed sample, in turn, was the third most frequent cause, involving 17.9\% of cases.

What is meant by specimen label?

A means of uniquely identifying the source of a clinical specimen sent for laboratory analysis.

How do you label blood samples?

Labelling the Samples Do not use any type of labels, including ICE labels on Blood Transfusion samples. These samples should only be handwritten. Guidance on labelling Blood Transfusion samples can be found in the Requesting & Reporting section. Label bottles with patients Surname, Forename, DOB, ward and Date.

Why should we not label tubes prior to blood collection?

Further, pre-labeling impedes visual confirmation that the tube is filling and often obscures the manufacturer’s optimum fill indicator, leading to underfilled tubes and higher sample rejection rates.

Why is labeling important in histopathology?

It is important that the patient’s personal details on a pathology sample should match exactly the same details on the corresponding request form. Remember – unlabelled or mislabelled specimens and incorrect request forms carry a great clinical risk.

What are the causes of failure to draw blood?

Read on to find out five causes of difficult blood draws.

• Small or Hard-to-Find Veins. This is one of the most common causes of a difficult blood draw.
• Inelastic Veins.
• Scars from Intravenous Drug Use.
• Chemotherapy.
• Students in Medical Lab Tech Courses Should Be Mindful of Trypanophobic Patients.

When preparing a patient for a venipuncture procedure phlebotomists should reassure the patient by saying this wont hurt at all?

1.2 Reassure the patient. The phlebotomist must gain the patient’s confidence and assure the patient that, although the venipuncture will be slightly painful, it will be of short duration. 1.3 Never tell a patient, “This won’t hurt.”

What are the five rejection criteria to reject a specimen?

Examples of sample rejection criteria

• Unlabelled or mislabelled samples.
• Duplicate samples. Most duplicate samples received on the same day are unacceptable and should not be processed.
• Leaky containers.
• Contaminated samples.
• Inappropriate sample sources.
• Delayed transport time and sample processing.

How does a phlebotomist identify a patient?

The phlebotomist then placed the collection tray at the end of the bed on the food stand. Next, the phlebotomist identified the patient using the two-step identification method, asking the patient to state her name and checking her hospital identification bracelet.

Should blood collection tubes be labelled before taking samples?

Blood collection tubes must not be labelled before taking the sample. You should prepare by getting together all the materials you need for the blood collection including the set of ICE stickers if appropriate.

How do you label a bottle of blood?

Bottles may be labelled with ICE stickers where appropriate but other sticky labels must NOT be attached to any blood tube. When handwriting patient and collection details onto a blood tubes you must include (on each tube) the patients surname, forename, DOB, location and Date.

Why does the phlebotomist remove the needle from the vein?

In an attempt to get blood flow, the phlebotomist adjusts the needle; however, after several minutes of no blood return, she removes the needle. The phlebotomist then asks me to pass her a small container from her tray.