receipt of laboratory sample

Every hospital have different way of collecting laboratory sample from wards, but whatever way the hospital adopt in collecting the laboratory sample the following requirements must be adhered to;

1 the specimens container must be robust and leak proof.

2 special collecting tray or box must be used and they must be leakproof unable to waist and repeated autoclaving or disinfection

3 all specimen must be carried upright and therefore the tray or box must have bottle or rack fitted.

For the train or bus must be sterilized weekly or after any visible leak or spillage.

Requist form should be kept separate from the specimens to prevent contamination. Plastic envelope for specimen with separate sleeve for the request form are ideal for this purpose.

Sample that are suspected all done do have dangerous pathogens must be indicated with a danger sign of affection, label affixed and be inserted into a plastic envelope. The laboratory personnel that you will receive the sample must not handle such a level sample. The process of receiving the sample, many hospital laboratory have a central area which specimen is been given a laboratory number, the information on the request form accompanying the specimen is checked out the specimen and form dispatched to the laboratory.

All laboratory personnel walking in the reception area where sample are received must wear protective clotting and must not be allowed to handle leaking or broken samples.

Often in histopathology department sample are collected in a container of fixatives. The container must be of suitable size that hold of volume of fixative approximately 10 times that of the sample.

Some of the most common incident of unfixed sample coming to the laboratory is when the specimen for frozen sections are sent: here, the theatre should make arrangement with the laboratory so that the personnel and equipment at hand to process the sample. Some sample are not placed in the fixative before sending to the laboratory such as specimen for history chemistry (muscle biopsy) all specimen in which cytological imprint may be made, lymph node Maybe bisected smear and then a slice of the tissues is put into fixative.

In all situation where sample are not fixed it is important that the laboratory staff and theatre staff have sufficient clear understanding that this sample must be delivered to the laboratory instantly.

Once the specimen have reached the laboratory this should be correctly identified along with their request form which has been suitably completed. Often, in most laboratory it is a culture to sign the theatre book in order to acknowledge that the sample has been correctly received and identified in the laboratory. Multiple specimen or sample should be collected from the patient in order that they will ultimately be reported together they should then be identify with self adhesive number label on the specimen container not the lid and request form.

In a general term sample received for cytological are designated gynaecological or non gynaecological. almost all gynaecology sample received in the laboratory are fixed smear label with a pencil. The sample should be sent to laboratory in suitable container accompany with a request form.