Preliminary precautions before preforming a haemiglobin test

jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B · Mar 10, 2015

I am not sure what a haemaglobin test is.......(hemoglobin?)

On any test, there are policies and procedures in place as to how specs are to be collected.

As well as how critical values are to be reported, to who, and most importantly, what you are to do with that information.

With that being said, be sure you always think about infection control with every procedure that you are talking about. (Hand washing, gloves, skin prep, proper needle disposal)

Also, be sure that you are also talking about correct identifying the patient, and how one does that. If what you are talking about is a hemoglobin, then think globally--this is a lab test that could result in a patient needing a transfusion--therefore, you need to think about proper ID, if he MD wants to type cross--which has its own set of protocols/procedures of which you would need to be familiar (or any other labs for that matter) so that you are not repeatedly sticking the patient.

I think the "key" to the question here is not necessarily specific to the type of lab per se, but all labs--and there are general guidelines to follow in obtaining them.

One Day · Mar 10, 2015

What are the precautions that I have to take before performing the hsemoglobin test on a patient?

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Mar 11, 2015

What are the precautions that I have to take before performing the hsemoglobin test on a patient?

I would have said, "What does your textbook have to say about it?" or " ... your laboratory testing textbook (like the classic Kee, "Laboratory and Diagnostic tests with Nursing Implications")?" , but jadelpn has helpfully given you a good general answer.

If you don't think that's the answer, then can you share your thinking with us?

psu_213, BSN, RN · Mar 11, 2015

If you are going to draw any blood sample on a patient, what must you do? How do you prevent infection? How do you make sure that the lab runs is actually the sample for that patient? How do you make sure the sample will be a true indication of a pt's Hgb. level, and not a contaminated sample?

One Day · Mar 13, 2015

My text books does not have anything about the Hb. But I think the precautions must be things like wrong identification, I'm not completely sure what they want there.

jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B · Mar 13, 2015

It is of no matter what kind of blood test you are obtaining. Everyone needs to be correctly identified, labels at bedside (do NOT walk your labs out of a room to label them elsewhere) most labels need to be initialed and timed.

Everyone needs to have infection control procedures in place. Make sure you know the policy on the order in which you are to draw the tubes. And if you are drawing off of an IV, make sure you are scrubbing the hub--and whatever other policies would be in place for infection control.

HUGE ONE-----Wash hands, don gloves.