Question

A phlebotomist goes to the ER to draw blood from an unconscious, badly injured accident victim. The anxious RN tells the phlebotomist to draw a "rainbow" and a blood alcohol level and adds that she will send the doctor's orders to the lab as soon as she gets them. The injured man does not yet have an ID band on his wrist because the phlebotomist was right there when he arrived. How should the phlebotomist identify the patient in order to meet NPSG's? Should the phlebotomist collect one of every color of the tubes on her tray (the "rainbow") or should the phlebotomist wait for the doctor's orders?

Answer 1

Answer.

The first goal in PSG( patient safety goal) is identification of the patient correctly. It should be done with two identifiers,patient's name and medical record number before commencing any procedure. Here the patient doesn't have ID band and also he is unconscious. So no more identification can be done until there is wrist band ( ID band).So a phlebotomist is not allowed to draw the blood without proper identification.If the phlebotomist or the nurse herself is collecting the blood sample ,there is a chance for mixing up the samples with another new patient . Along with this,the doctor has not yet placed an order to the lab. The doctor may need less or more laborotory works ( may require more vaccutainers than routine ) and some samples to be reached to the laboratory without any delay after sample collection or need immediate result.It is not acceptable to collect all the blood samples( rainbow) before the doctor places an order to the lab.So the phlebotomist has to wait for the identification band and doctor's oder to be placed before drawing the bloood samples.