• 61% of all accidental needlesticks sustained during phlebotomy procedures occur within seconds of when the needle is removed from the patient's arm? (CDC)
• laboratorians do not report up to 92% of the accidental needlesticks they sustain? (source)
• 93.2% of all venipunctures are successful on the first attempt?
• two out of five nurses surveyed wouldn't recommend their health care facility to a family member?
• 35% of patients feel more discomfort during a venipuncture than they expected?
• as many as 10 different healthcare workers are involved in the complex process of transfusing blood? 
• a study found 55% of all ED patients at one UK hospital were without identification bands?
• an armband attached to the bedrail identifies the bedrail, not the patient?
• punctures on the fingers should be done across the fingerprint, not parallel to them? (CLSI)
• potassium, total protein and calcium levels are lower in skin puncture blood than in venous blood? (CLSI)
• excessive crying can temporarily elevate white blood cell counts in infants? (CLSI)
• in one study, 24 of 121 surgeries had to be interrupted due to the patient's reaction to a latex exposure with 14 of those requiring transfer to the intensive care unit?
• bacteremia involving E. coli can exist in the bloodstream in concentrations as low as one organism per ml of blood? 
• labs that report erroneous laboratory results from blood specimens that are compromised by poor specimen collection practices set themselves up for claims of negligence?
• underfilled EDTA tubes yield a falsely lower hematocrit because red cells shrink when blood is excessively anticoagulated?
• the average phlebotomist commits 3.5 procedural errors per draw?
• the first evidence that collection tube additives carryover and can corrupt the results obtained in the next tube appeared in the literature in 1977?
• in most states, you need a license to cut someone's hair or raise pigs, but not if you want to sink a needle into their vein to draw blood?
• when citrate tubes for protimes are refrigerated before testing, cold activation of Factor VII can lead to shortened protime results? (CLSI)?

 Bloggers Note: for more tasty tidbits, consider getting a copy of The Lab Draw Answer Book. It's like having Dennis's brain on your desk, only without the formaldehyde. 

Tasty tidbits indeed!

These are fascinating facts! My eyebrows kept rising through the entire list! Thanks for the info.

Berte Olsen, 01/25/2022 09:52:53

Mistakes

What are the mistakes that phlebs make?

Blair, 01/25/2022 13:26:30