HOW TO HANDLING ROUTINE SPECIMENS
Handling of Routine Specimens
·
Protective gears are the material worn
to protect an individual from infection, and are specialized clothing or
equipment worn by health service provider for protection against health and
safety hazards. Protective gears are designed to protect many parts of the body
such as
o
Hands
o
Eyes
o
Feet
o
Nose and mouth
·
Examples
of potential eye, mouth and nose contamination
o
Splashes and aerosols from contaminated
materials
o
Harmful rays from the use of lasers or
other radiant light (as well as heat, glare, sparks, splash and flying
particles).
Types and Importance of
Protective Gears
·
Protective
gears includes
o
Gloves
§ Are
worn on the hands and protects hands contamination
- Laboratory
Coat
§ Protects
health providers clothes from being contaminated)
- Masks
§ Protects
nose and mouth from fumes, aerosols and
- Gumboots
§ Protects
feet contaminations
- Eye
Glasses
§ Protects
eyes contaminations
·
Importance
of Protective Gears
o
Protects health provider from contamination
o
Presents transferring of infections from
work place to another area
o
It can also reduce the overall costs of
health care by preventing injury and illness in the workplace
Handling of Routine Specimens
·
Once a specimen is collected properly,
it must be handled correctly otherwise results may be compromised.
o
Stool
Specimen
§ Never
leave stool specimen exposed to the air in container without lid
§ Never
accept stool specimen mixed with urine (e.g. in a bed pan
§ Never
examine stool specimen without first putting on gloves
§ Always
examine stool specimen within 1-4 hours after collection. If several specimens
are received at the same time ,examine the liquid stools and those containing
mucous or blood first, as they contain motile amoebae(which dies quickly
- Urine
Specimen
§ A
urine specimen for routine urinalysis requires 15 ml of urine.
§ Container
for Collection of urine should be wide mouthed clean, and dry with a
screw-capped lid
§ If
urine has been collected for presence of Schistosoma
haematobium ova but it may not be examined for several hours should be
acidified with a few drops of 10% acetic
acid
o
Sputum
Specimen
§ Sputum
sample is collected in a plastic, wide mouthed, leak proof container with lid,
or waxed carton.
§ Do
not collect sputum in glass bottles (except when sending for culture of
mycobacterium tuberculosis) as glass bottles are difficult to treat.
§ Avoid
contaminating the outside of the container with sputum
§ If
the outside is contaminated discard the container and repeat with fresh container
o
Blood of Specimen
§ Use
appropriate collection containers for specific testing needs
§ Store
specimens upright, in racks at the appropriate temperature
§ Note
the time of taking the specimens to ensure processing in the correct timeframe
§ Results
of laboratory investigations are only as good as the sample received by the
laboratory
o
Pus
specimen
§ Pus
is collected in order to examine micro organisms causing infection
§ Must
be collected by using sterile swab
§ Do
not make a smear for transporting when the specimen is from a patient with
suspect of anthrax or bubonic plague
Significance of Proper Handling
of Routine Specimen
·
Reduces contamination
·
Helps tracking down the specimens and
results
·
Helps to get quality results
·
Avoids mixing specimen and request form
Avoid leakages
Thannk you for writing this
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