The Effects of Education and Training Given to Phlebotomists for Reducing Preanalytical Errors

BACKGROUND: The most common sources of error in the preanalytical phase are considered to be at the stage of patient preparation and sample collection. In order to reduce the preanalytical errors, we aimed to determine the level of phlebotomists knowledge about the preanalytic phase before and after planned trainings in the study. METHODS: Training about preanalytical processes was given to the 454 health professionals and the majority of them were employed as nurse. Questionnaires before and after training were conducted. In order to assess the effect of the training into the process, preanalytical error rates were calculated before and after training. RESULTS: The total correct answer rates of vocational school of health diplomaed were statistically lower than the total correct answer rates of other. It was observed significantly increase in the rate of correct answers to questionnaire and significantly decrease in preanalytical error rates after training. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the survey showed that the attitudes of the phlebotomists were diverse in the preanalytical processes according to the levels of education and their practices. By providing training to all staff on a regular basis, their information about preanalytical phase could be updated and hence, it may possible to significantly reduce the preanalytical errors in health practice and nursing science.