In the majority of U.S. healthcare institutions, patient wristbands do not contain barcodes, creating a situation where patient data is manually typed into a database or point-of-care device, leaving plenty of room for error.  In light of error statistics issued by the United Kingdom’s National Patient Safety Agency...

Measurements of pH, pCO₂ and pO₂ of arterial blood during blood gas analysis are all made at normal body temperature, 37 °C. The sample is warmed to that temperature prior to analysis. Blood gas analyzers provide the option for these primary measurements to be automatically "corrected" to the patient’s actual body...

Hospital do Coração (HCor) in São Paolo, Brazil is a hospital for cardiac patients, many of whom are children and newborns. Cardiac patients are closely monitored with respect to acid base and blood gases, and even the newborns have several arterial and venous blood samples drawn daily. Dr Alberto Duarte from the...

Conventionally, arterial blood is sampled for blood gas analysis, but if the purpose is to assess acid-base balance, venous blood may be an acceptable alternative. That is the main conclusion of a recently published study conducted at the intensive care units of two Melbourne hospitals.  The objective of the study was ...

Reprinted with permission from British Journal of Nursing, 2004, Vol 13, No 9.  Arterial puncture is the most common method used to obtain a sample for the measurement of arterial blood gases (ABGs) and is essential to guide the prescription of long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT) in patients with chronic hypoxic lung...

The introduction of new clinical procedures may have unanticipated adverse effects. The rising incidence of nosocomial infection has highlighted a critical need for effective hand hygiene among healthcare workers. During the past five years there has been increasing acceptance by health authorities of the...

Interview Fetal scalp Blood Sampling (FBS) – not exactly wishful thinking for the mother, nor for the obstetrician? The procedure is regarded as cumbersome, the sample quality is questionable and the consequences of the result may be instrumental vaginal delivery or Cesarian Section (CS). acutecaretesting.org has...

When blood gas analysis reveals a reduced pO₂(a) in a patient without any immediate clinical evidence of hypoxemia, consideration should be given to the possibility that the result is falsely low, allowing a diagnosis of spurious or pseudo-hypoxemia.  Technical deficiencies (e.g. sampling of venous rather than...

The standard sample for measurement of blood gases is arterial blood. Arterial puncture is painful and, because of inherent dangers, is usually only performed by qualified medical staff. Arterialized earlobe capillary blood sampling provides a less painful and safer alternative, which can be reliably performed after...

Lack of homogeneity of a blood sample can lead to incorrect results. In this paper, the quality requirements of a sample prior to mixing, the type of samples, sample collection devices and tools and mechanics of mixing will be highlighted. Issues related to the mixing of samples intended for hematological and blood...