title: Education of phlebotomy teams improves blood volume in blood culture bottles.
abstract: The volume of blood sampled for blood culture determines its sensitivity. We measured low mean blood volumes in submitted aerobic (8.38 ± 3.88 ml) and anaerobic (7.16 ± 3.83 ml) blood culture bottles. Educational seminars were held for phlebotomy teams, and renewed measurements thereafter revealed significantly higher blood volumes in submitted aerobic (9.77 ± 4.42 ml) and anaerobic (8.30 ± 3.64 ml) bottles. Education of phlebotomy teams improves the blood volume in blood culture bottles and should be part of quality control procedures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. j.vaningen@mmb.umcn.nl
authors.forename: Jakko
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: van Ingen
authors.forename: Nataliya
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hilt
authors.forename: Ron
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bosboom
mesh_terms: D004501:Education, Medical; D006801:Humans; D008828:Microbiological Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D018962:Phlebotomy / Q000379:methods*; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000379:methods*