Phlebotomy ✨🩸

#phlebotomy #nursing #laboratory #lab

Certain things can really affect your lab results!!

The biggest things I see in my lab

- Hemolysis

Some tests we cannot run due to the interference of color from certain levels of hemolysis.

It can also elevate potassium, phosphorus, and magnesium!

- Clots

The additives in a lavender top (EDTA) chelates calcium. Calcium plays a major roll in the coagulation system! So by taking it away we can get accurate results for tests like the CBC!

Without EDTA large clots can form and can falsely decrease the platelet count or even the hematocrit in some cases!

-Contamination

There are many different forms of contamination. Additive contamination is just one I see a lot.

Some additives get carried over when drawing blood and can have negative impacts on tests! That’s why order of draw is SO important!