Effects of a simulation-based workshop on nursing students' competence in arterial puncture

Objective: To evaluate whether a short simulation-based workshop in radial artery puncture would improve nursing students’ competence to a level in which they could practise the procedure on a live patient without compromising his safety. Methods: Quasi-experimental one-group pretest-posttest study with 111 third-year nursing students. A 1.5-hour simulation-based workshop was implemented. This included a video-lecture, live demonstrations, selfdirected simulated practice in dyads and individual intermittent feedback. Participants’ skills, knowledge and self-efficacy in arterial puncture were measured before and after attending the workshop. Results: After the intervention, a total of 61.1% of the participants showed the level of competence required to safely practice radial artery puncture on a live patient under supervision. Conclusion: Effective simulation-based training in arterial puncture for nursing students does not necessarily need to be resource-intensive. Well-planned, evidence-based training sessions using low-tech simulators could help educators to achieve good educational outcomes and promote patient safety

Preanalytical quality improvement: in quality we trust.

Total quality in laboratory medicine should be defined as the guarantee that each activity throughout the total testing process is correctly performed, providing -valuable medical decision-making and effective patient care. In the past decades, a 10-fold reduction in the analytical error rate has been achieved thanks to improvements in both reliability and standardization of -analytical techniques, reagents, and instrumentation. Notable advances in information technology, quality control and quality assurance methods have also assured a valuable contribution for reducing diagnostic errors. Nevertheless, several lines of evidence still suggest that most errors in laboratory diagnostics fall outside the analytical phase, and the pre- and postanalytical steps have been found to be much more vulnerable. This collective paper, which is the logical continuum of the former already published in this journal 2 years ago, provides additional contribution to risk management in the preanalytical phase and is a synopsis of the lectures of the 2nd European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (EFLM)-Becton Dickinson (BD) European Conference on Preanalytical Phase meeting entitled "Preanalytical quality improvement: in quality we trust" (Zagreb, Croatia, 1-2 March 2013). The leading topics that will be discussed include quality indicators for preanalytical phase, phlebotomy practices for collection of blood gas analysis and pediatric samples, lipemia and blood collection tube interferences, preanalytical requirements of urinalysis, molecular biology hemostasis and platelet testing, as well as indications on best practices for safe blood collection. Auditing of the preanalytical phase by ISO assessors and external quality assessment for preanalytical phase are also discussed

Laboratory networking and sample quality: a still relevant issue for patient safety.

Laboratory networking and sample quality: a still relevant issue for patient safety

Total quality in laboratory diagnostics. It\u2019s time to think outside the box.

Total quality in laboratory diagnostics. It\u2019s time to think outside the box

Preanalytical phase--a continuous challenge for laboratory professionals.

Preanalytical phase is the most vulnerable part of the total testing process and is considered to be among the greatest challenges to the laboratory professionals. However, preanalytical activities, management of unsuitable specimens and reporting policies are not fully standardized, nor harmonized worldwide. Several standards related to blood sampling and sample transportation and handling are available, but compliance to those guidelines is low, especially outside the laboratory and if blood sampling is done without the direct supervision of the laboratory staff. Furthermore, for some most critical procedures within the preanalytical phase, internationally accepted guidelines and recommendations as well as related quality measures are unfortunately unavailable. There is large heterogeneity in the criteria for sample rejection, the different strategies by which unacceptable samples are managed, processed and test results reported worldwide. Management of unacceptable specimens warrants therefore immediate harmonization. Alongside the challenging and long road of patient safety, preanalytical phase offers room for improvement, and Editors at Biochemia Medica Journal definitely hope to continue providing a respective mean for reporting studies on different preanalytical phase topics. With pleasure and delight we invite potential future authors to submit their articles examining the quality of various preanalytical activities to Biochemia Medica. We will keep nurturing this topic as our prominent feature and by this we hope to be able to deliver valid evidence for some future guidelines and recommendations