Sample integrity is critical to the safety of clinical laboratory services. If the sample is faulty, test results are meaningless. Each time there is a problem with specimen integrity, patients experience wasted time, anxiety, and a loss of faith in the expertise of the phlebotomy staff. Patients may also experience harm if harm is defined as a delay in diagnosis, therapy, hospital admission, or discharge.
Threats to sample integrity include:
- Collection of a sample from the wrong patient
- Collection of the wrong blood sample (e.g., a blue top tube when a green top is needed)
- Missed venipuncture (multiple attempts)
- Multiple venipunctures due to improper or inadequate samples collected
- Mislabeled and unlabeled samples
- Improperly performed venipuncture or skin puncture
