Impact of Educational Activities in Reducing Pre-Analytical Laboratory Errors A quality initiative
Journal Title: Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal - Year 2017, Vol 17, Issue 3
Abstract
Objectives: Pre-analytic errors during diagnostic laboratory investigations can lead to increased patient morbidity and mortality. Tis study aimed to ascertain the effect of educational nursing activities on the incidence of pre-analytical errors resulting in non-conforming blood samples. Methods: Tis study was conducted between January 2008 and December 2015. All specimens received at the Haematology Laboratory of the Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat, Oman, during this period were prospectively collected and analysed. Similar data from 2007 were collected retrospectively and used as a baseline for comparison. Non-conforming samples were defned as either clotted samples, haemolysed samples, use of the wrong anticoagulant, insufcient quantities of blood collected, incorrect/lack of labelling on a sample or lack of delivery of a sample in spite of a sample request. From 2008 onwards, multiple educational training activities directed at the hospital nursing staff and nursing students primarily responsible for blood collection were implemented on a regular basis. Results: After initiating corrective measures in 2008, a progressive reduction in the percentage of non-conforming samples was observed from 2009 onwards. Despite a 127.84% increase in the total number of specimens received, there was a signifcant reduction in non-conforming samples from 0.29% in 2007 to 0.07% in 2015, resulting in an improvement of 75.86% (P <0.050). In particular, specimen identifcation errors decreased by 0.056%, with a 96.55% improvement. Conclusion: Targeted educational activities directed primarily towards hospital nursing staff had a positive impact on the quality of laboratory specimens by signifcantly reducing pre-analytical errors.
Authors and Affiliations
Hamed Al-Ghaithi| Department of Haematology, Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Anil Pathare| Department of Haematology, Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Sahimah Al-Mamari| Department of Haematology, Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Rodrigo Villacrucis| Department of Haematology, Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Naglaa Fawaz| Department of Haematology, College of Medicine & Health Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman, Salam Alkindi| Department of Haematology, College of Medicine & Health Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman
Keywords
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- EP ID EP14794
- DOI 10.18295/squmj.2017.17.03.008
- Views 371
- Downloads 16
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