FREE DOWNLOADPhlebotomy Central
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The most comprehensive and accurate library of blood sample collection information on the Internet.
Features:
- over 400 articles, newsletter archives, FAQs, and management tools;
- 24/7 access;
- searchable by keyword;
- updated regularly.
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Premium subscribers not only receive an Institutional subscription with facility-wide forwarding privileges, but also access to Phlebotomy Central®, the most comprehensive online body of knowledge on blood specimen collection.
Phlebotomy Central™ consists of four sections:
Archived issues of Phlebotomy Today®
All Phlebotomy Today® Premium subscribers not only receive an institutional subscription to the only monthly newsletter on the planet devoted entirely to specimen collection, but they also have access to all nine years of back issues*, not available separately. That’s over 100 issues of information that has kept thousands of healthcare professionals current since the turn of the century.
(Value if purchased separately: $299 (institutional subscription) + $9.95 for each archived issue.)To the Point® Articles
Over seventeen detailed articles in PDF format, each between 4 and 25 pages in length, covering a wide variety of blood collection topics. (Value if purchased separately: $280)
The Manager’s Toolbox
A growing list of documents, charts, templates, checklists, and literature reviews that managers and educators can use to enhance their understanding of preanalytical physiology, and manage their staff more effectively. New tools are added regularly.
FAQs
Over the years, the Center for Phlebotomy Education has answered thousands of questions from all corners of the phlebotomy community. The FAQ section of Phlebotomy Central contains detailed and referenced answers to hundreds of those most frequently asked.
"I can't count the number of times I have referred to Phlebotomy Central. I was just asked to make a presentation to a large group of physicians about their elevated potassium levels. I quoted some of your articles from Phlebotomy Central and was able to convince them that pre-analytical errors are the culprits."
Nieva Ladrillono MT(ASCP) MS
Director, Laboratory Operations
Sentara Medical Group
Norfolk, VA
Sample FAQ:
ER blood culture contamination & hemolysis
Hi Dennis,
I attended your presentation on Pediatric Phlebotomy in Springfield, Missouri last week and really enjoyed hearing you speak. Our ER has been drawing blood for about 3 years now and we continue to have trouble with blood culture contamination and hemolysis. I educate and train their techs that will be drawing blood, but the problem seems more with nursing. How do you handle education with emergency room staff? I would greatly appreciate any suggestions you might have.
Sincerely,
Teresa
Teresa,
Thanks for the kind words. Every ER in the country shares your frustration. A study reported in the Journal of Emergency Nursing describes a similar issue at a hospital like yours where the authors, all nurses, investigated the lab's claim that they are hemolyzing specimens during collection in the ER. The nurses didn't believe they were responsible and conducted their own study to prove it. But what they proved is that their draws were more hemolyzed than laboratory phlebotomists' draws. Here's the reference:
Kennedy C, Angermuller S, King, R, Noviello S, Walker J, et al. A comparison of hemolysis rates using intravenous catheters versus venipuncture tubes for obtaining blood samples. J Emer Nurs 1996;22(6):566-569.
Don’t be overly critical of the nurses, however. In the ER, everything has to happen quickly and they give a priority to expediency. That’s the driving force behind draws during an IV start. They are also wanting to save the patient a stick. Unfortunately, such expediency is at odds with a good specimen, which is the laboratory’s priority. Understanding the difference in priorities is key to working together. Try explaining how draws during IV starts can be more detrimental to the patient than beneficial, especially when the diagnosis and treatment is delayed because of a hemolyzed specimen that has to be recollected by venipuncture.
As for blood culture contamination, the same force is at work: expediency. Reinforce that whether the antiseptic is iodine or chlorhexidine, it requires at least 30 seconds of contact in order to decontaminate the site. Expediency here cuts that time short and you end up with skin flora growing inside the culture bottles and presenting a misperception of the patient’s condition.