Transfusion Safety: Specimen Collection

Instructor:

Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Service Program Office

Contact Hours:

1.0

Date:

January 01, 2024 - December 31, 2025

Description:
Patient safety in the collection of pre-transfusion specimens. Topics include: patient identification procedure, tube labeling, and identifying and resolving discrepancies.
Learning Objectives:
  1. Identify the most common errors that can occur during the collection of pretransfusion specimens.
  2. Describe the additional precautions required for pretransfusion specimen collection.
  3. Explain what it means to perform a "Three-Way Exact Match" of patient information to request forms and specimen labels.
  4. Describe the Zero Tolerance Policy of patient identification.
  5. Discriminate between positive patient identification and passive identification.
  6. Identify the elements required on a transfusion request form.
  7. Explain why blood is tested for typing and compatibility.
  8. Correctly label pretransfusion specimens.