Best Practices in Blood Culture Collection-Best Practices

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Blood culture testing is an important diagnostic tool for identifying bloodstream infections in patients. However, improper collection techniques can compromise the accuracy of the test results. False negatives can occur if not enough blood is collected, allowing infections to go undiagnosed. Conversely, false positives can result from specimen contamination, which can come from various sources. Hospitals aim to keep the false positive rate below 3%, but even this allows for too many events. Following best practice guidelines for blood culture collection, such as using gloves, proper skin antisepsis, and closed system butterfly collection sets, can improve the accuracy of the test results. Automated specimen diversion devices can further reduce contaminated blood cultures by more than 80%. Compliance with best practices and the use of technology can lead to more effective and cost-efficient patient treatment.

Keywords

blood culture testing

diagnostic tool

bloodstream infections

collection techniques

test results