Clinical Lab Flashcards
What are the roles of the MLA?
- procurement and preparation of specimens for analysis
- loading specimens for analysis on lab instruments
- preparing slides for microscopic analysis
- performing routine tissue staining
- inoculating and incubating microbiology specimens
- management of patient information
- preparation of reagents and quality control materials
- documenting and performing preventative maintenance on equipment
- internal and external quality assurance
- manage lab inventory
- cleaning glassware
What are some large city facilities?
- collection sites
- rapid-response/core laboratories
- high volume laboratories
- reference/provincial laboratories
Example of a collection site?
Patient service centre (PSC)
Examples of core labs in Calgary.
- ACH - Alberta children’s hospital
- FMC - foothill medical Center
- PLC - Peter lougheed center
- RGH - rocky general hospital
- SHC - south health campus
What are RRLs?
In hospital setting; labs that perform priority testing — short turnaround times (TAT)
What are high volume labs?
Designed for high-volume testing and specialized test procedures
What are provincial labs?
Provides complex testing procedures for large region of patients
What kind of tests do core labs do?
Hematology (and coagulation), transfusion medicine, chemistry.
Some have histology and microbiology
What is an example of a high volume lab?
DSC - diagnostic and scientific center
What are the departments within a clinical lab?
- specimen accessioning
- Chem and urinalysis/immunology
- hematology and coagulation
- transfusion medicine (immunohematology)
- microbiology
- histology (anatomical pathology)
What are the duties involved in specimen accessioning?
- receive and sort specimens
- troubleshooting specimen and requisition errors
- enter patient and specimen information in the LIS
- centrifuge appropriate specimens
- distribute specimens to appropriate testing department
- package specimens for transport to referral labs
Chemistry is the _______ and most _______ area of the lab.
Largest, automated
What are blood specimens for chemistry tests collected in?
PST tubes and SST tubes
What’s the difference between PST and SST tubes?
PST - can be spun right away
SST - needs time to clot before centrifugation
What is urinalysis for?
To test for urinary tract and kidney diseases
What do dipsticks detect?
Glucose and protein
What do you examine urine microscopically for?
Blood cells, casts, crystals, bacteria and other formed elements
What is hematology?
The study of formed elements in the blood
What are the formed elements in blood?
RBC (erythrocytes), WBC (leukocytes) and platelets (thrombocytes)
What are some examples of tests performed in hematology?
CBC, white cell differential, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and reticulocyte count
What are hematology samples collected in?
Typically EDTA tubes