Capillary blood sampling via a heel lance is the most common procedure performed in hospitalized neonates. Adequate training and supervision of the personnel performing the procedure is necessary to prevent/minimize inadequate sampling volumes, false laboratory results and complications such as pain. Efforts should be ...

Methods for the measurement of hemoglobin (Hb) were first developed well over a century ago, so that hemoglobin was among the first diagnostic blood tests available to clinicians during the first decades of the 20th century when laboratory medicine was in its infancy.  Today it is the most frequently requested blood...

As point-of-care testing (POCT) becomes more popular in healthcare institutions because of its ability to deliver high-quality results at the bedside, point-of-care coordinators (POCCs) are becoming increasingly tasked with controlling costs. To deal with this responsibility, POCCs often turn to equipment to solve...

The collection of arterial specimens with glass syringes and immediate storage in iced water was the accepted industry standard for many years. Practice has changed over the past several years to blood gas sample collection in plastic syringes, likely due to the cost, safety and convenience of plastic. This change ...

Five years of data on percutaneous injuries (PIs) from the EPINet multi-hospital sharps injury database at the University of Virginia were analyzed to understand exposure risks faced by personnel in intensive care/critical care settings. Of 687 PIs in intensive care units (ICUs), nurses had the highest proportion of...

Lately, everybody seems to be talking about reducing testing errors and improving patient safety. But where do you begin? The answer may be to look beyond the error itself and instead focus on what is causing it. Michael Astion, Associate Professor, Director of the University of Washington’s Reference Laboratory...

Point-of-care testing (POCT) results, like other forms of laboratory data, hold potential hidden information that can be utilized to improve patient care.  The technique of extracting useful information from vast amounts of data is termed “data mining”. Technological solutions are now available to meet the challenges ...

The University College London Hospitals (UCLH) is one of the largest NHS trusts in England. The Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and Obstetric Hospital houses the Trust's gynecology, obstetric and neonatal services. At the neonatal unit, blood gas monitoring has historically been done by a combination of blood gas...

Supported by Pennsylvania Hospital Kernicterus Fund and the Eglin Fund In the late 1980s, the question whether bilirubin damaged the brain of healthy infants was unanswered. The absence of documented evidence influenced the formulation of the 1994 consensus-based guidelines...

Preanalytical errors are a significant source of medical errors that can jeopardize patient safety. Proper specimen labeling practices are critical components of effective and accurate patient identification.  These variables are now considered part of the preexamination process in the newest CLSI quality system...