extended sample outdate

[dlv]

For those of you who allow extended sample outdates for selected Out Patients having surgery more than 3 days out--- how does your process work? Do you have the patient fill our a form? Who initiates the form and takes responsibility for its completion?

[Malcolm Needs ☆]

For those of you who allow extended sample outdates for selected Out Patients having surgery more than 3 days out--- how does your process work? Do you have the patient fill our a form? Who initiates the form and takes responsibility for its completion?

I know of one hospital in the UK that extends to three months! I would NOT like to have a transfusion there myself.

For obvious reasons, I cannot say which hospital it is.

:eek::eek::eek:

[Bill]

No form, we allow up to 2 weeks. BB Tech puts date of surgery & GR/Rh on extra specimen label which is posted on board in BB. We perform TS on date of draw, freeze plasma until day of OR. If xmatch is ordered, it is performed early AM on day of surgery when all of "todays" surgery frozen samples are thawed to be ready for IS xmatch in surgery. System seems to work well for us--120 bed hospital with 6 OR rooms & 3 Endo rooms running from 7am--7PM Mon--Fri

[dlv]

How do you know they have not been pregnant or transfused in the last 3 months?

[Bill]

Sorry about that--when the patient is drawn, he/she is asked about history of transfusion and/pregnancy. Info is entered into LIS (custom screen).

[dlv]

I like the idea of entering the info electronically instead of on a form. Who asks the history and enters the responses? Nurse, secretary, phlebotomist?

How do you know which patients to ask the history of? I assume you don't enter this info for everyone with a type and screen order.

[Stoogiesfreak]

We do not use a form. We allow 5 days from sample collection with followup from the BBK Super. Any armband removal identification issues and the process starts all over. I also like the idea of a form, but we do document in the LIS the reason for extending the sample time.

[Deny Morlino]

Similar process to Bill's. The information regarding transfusion and pregnancy is obtained during the Pre admission testing interview by the PAT nurse and is documented on the blood bank requisition.

[tgarrison]

We only use our specimens for the 72 hour window. Often, pre-surgery patients present too early for this specimen to be used on their surgery date. For our benefit, we go ahead and draw their type and screen. This is to gather a history on this patient. If they have an antibody, we have time to work it up and get units available. A very simple form is filled out that says this patient must be redrawn prior to surgery. A copy goes to blood bank, and a copy goes to the patients chart. The initial draw that is for our benefit is performed at no charge. We order a different test, we call it a COMEBACK.

[Bill]

dlv--the questions always come up when xmatch is ordered, not with TS. The phlebotomist or OP phlebotomy clerk asks the questions at the time of draw.