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15th phlebotomy edition holds ‘latest, greatest’

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Amy Carpenter Aquino

July 2017—After overseeing 10 editions of So You’re Going to Collect a Blood Specimen: An Introduction to Phlebotomy, Frederick L. Kiechle, MD, PhD, can authoritatively say that the 15th edition is the best. Released in March, this edition provides new information on ultrasound-guided peripheral intravenous cannulation, comprehensive instructions on proper hand hygiene, and a deeper dive into quality assurance.

“One of the big selling points of this book is that it’s always been meant to be a guide to define the standard of practice in phlebotomy,” Dr. Kiechle says. “There are numerous resources available, but this is the one that we update every two or three years to keep track of new rules and regulations.”

Dr. Kiechle, former medical director of clinical pathology, Memorial Healthcare, Hollywood, Fla., and now a consultant in clinical pathology, Cooper City, Fla., edited the book with Dorothy M. Adcock, MD, Samuel I. McCash, MD, and Deborah Sesok-Pizzini, MD, MBA.

Dr. Kiechle

Dr. Kiechle

The book, published by CAP Press, is written for “anybody who is attempting to draw a blood specimen,” Dr. Kiechle says. “This is a great book for large institutions to use as an educational tool for all the phlebotomy team members, no matter what service they might be working for.”

The consolidation of hospitals into large health care systems makes it imperative to have uniform standards in phlebotomy, which are needed to maintain a quality management system in the laboratory. In the appendix on quality assurance, the editors point out that the laboratory’s quality management system must cover the sample collection process.

“This is critically important,” says Dr. Adcock, medical director of Colorado Coagulation, Englewood, Colo., a member of the LabCorp Specialty Testing Group. “In the manual, we point out the fact that laboratory results are crucial in determining patient diagnosis, and ultimately in taking care of and treating the patient, and the accuracy of laboratory results begins with the proper sample collection.”

This edition spends more time describing the scientific basis for the various specific instructions in the book, she says, and the potential implications for the patient if procedures are not followed. “It’s important for the new phlebotomists to understand why things are done the way they are.”

As hospitals consolidate and systems become larger, with greater numbers of nurses and other non-laboratory personnel drawing blood, “it becomes an issue about training,” Dr. Kiechle says, “when to train, how long to train, and who should do the training. As time goes on, you have to go back and make sure the individual who’s been doing this for 20 years still remembers how to do it correctly.”

Other updates to the latest edition include improvements in the presentation and readability of the text, Dr. Adcock says. For example, shaded boxes call more attention to information on safety alerts, errors, and special precautions.

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