title: Laboratory sampling. Does the process affect the outcome?
abstract: With the rapidly changing healthcare environment, one of the many increasing tasks for the intravenous team is blood sampling. Laboratory test results are based on the quality of the patient's blood specimen. The preanalytic phase of laboratory testing accounts for 46% of laboratory testing errors, so it needs to be managed effectively to eliminate costly, inefficient, and sometimes life-threatening outcomes to patients. The use of quality blood collection procedures and an awareness of preanalytic errors are presented to lead to quality patient outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Medical School, School of Public Health, School of Allied Health Sciences, and School of Nursing, University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center, USA.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Becan-McBride
mesh_terms: D001800:Blood Specimen Collection / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards*; D003951:Diagnostic Errors / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D013677:Medical Laboratory Science / Q000592:standards*; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care