title: [A project to reduce mistakes in collecting specimens].
abstract: Specimen collection is an important task of nursing care. Any failure to collect the whole missing of a specimen may affect diagnosis and treatment. It will also increase the workloads of staff and the cost of medicines. From April to July 2002, a total of 3,382 specimens were collected in A112 ward in Taipei Veterans General hospital. There were 43 wrong specimens, 1.27% of the total. Analysis showed that the reasons for the error were as follows: (1) The level of knowledge about the test tubes and about the volume of specimens was low. (2) The procedure for dealing with application from was not appropriate. (3) The box in which specimens were kept was not appropriate. (4) The checklist was bad. The PDCA process used in this project reduced the rate of wrong specimens. The strategy was designed with three dimensions: staff, facilities, and procedure. After it was implemented, the rate of wrong specimens dropped from 1.27% to 0.49%, the improvement rate was 61.4%, and the rate of achievement was 101.3%. This project not only reduced the rate of wrong specimens, but also made the process easier and more safisfying for staff.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, No. 201 Shih-Pai Road Section 2, Taipei 11217, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Shu-Ying
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.forename: Li-Chueh
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Kao
authors.forename: Heui-Fang
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.forename: Yu-Chi
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D019300:Medical Errors / Q000517:prevention & control*; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000379:methods*