How do you store a cytology sample?

How do you store a cytology sample?

Samples should be immediately prepared from the specimen. Record the date of preparation on the specimen container and refrigerate any remaining specimen. Specimen can be stored for one week before disposal. Ideally, samples need to be kept until the specimen is reported by the cytopathologist.

How should samples and specimens be handled and collected?

Hands should be washed before and after specimen collection. In line with standard precautions, appropriate personal protective equipment should be worn when collecting or handling specimens. Specimens should be collected in sterile containers with close fitting lids to avoid contamination and spillage.

What precautions must be followed in the handling of the specimen?

Universal precautions should be observed when handling specimens. Laboratory coats, gloves, and safety goggles should be worn at all times. Specimens should be processed in a biological containment hood (BL-2 containment). 1.

Do cytology samples need to be refrigerated?

If the sample cannot be submitted directly to Cytopathology, the sample must be refrigerated until it can be delivered, along with the appropriate requisition form.

How do you store a specimen?

Specimen storage To increase the sensitivity of diagnostic testing all specimens should be stored frozen (optimally at -70oC) and shipped on dry ice with the exception of fixed tissues and specimens collected in a glass tube (whole blood, whole blood EDTA, whole blood Heparin, serum separating tubes, CPT tubes, etc).

What is the procedure for collecting specimens?

There are four steps involved in obtaining a good quality specimen for testing: (1) preparation of the patient, (2) collection of the specimen, (3) processing the specimen, and (4) storing and/or transporting the specimen.

What are the principles of specimen collection?

The specimen must be:

• Appropriate to the patient’s clinical presentation.
• Collected at the right time.
• Collected in a way that minimises contamination.
• Collected in a way that reduces health and safety risk to all staff handling the specimen (including laboratory staff)
• Collected using the correct equipment.

What are the safety policies and procedures that must be followed in specimen collection and transportation?

Universal precaution guidelines must be followed for collection and transport of all specimens. Specimens should be placed in tightly sealed containers; the containers should be free of any external spillage, and the specimens should be transported in plastic biohazard ziplock bags.

What are the general guidelines for obtaining specimens?

What is the first thing you always do in specimen handling for safety?

1. Always wear gloves and any other indicated barrier protection when collecting and handling laboratory specimens. 2. Place each laboratory specimen in an appropriate leak-proof primary container (e.g. vacutainer tube, specimen cup, etc.).

Why is it important to handle and store a specimen properly?

Why must a specimen be properly handled and stored? To preserve the in vivo qualities of the specimen.

What is cytology preparation?

In general, aspirate smears, needle rinses and cell blocks, alone or in combination, are prepared from a given sample. Aspirate Smears A close attention to smearing technique is required to maximize the diagnostic yield if aspirate smears are pre- ferred.

What is cytology procedure?

What is cytology? Cytology is the examination of single cells from bodily tissues or fluids. A specialized physician called a cytopathologist examines the cells in the tissue or fluid sample under a microscope and looks for certain characteristics or abnormalities in the cells.

What is your professional responsibility in collection of specimen?

One of the many responsibilities assigned to us, as nurses, is to collect and label specimen for analysis and to ensure their delivery to the lab. And knowing the proper way of gathering specimen is necessary for self-protection and to prevent the spread of disease.

What lab specimens should be frozen?

Serum and plasma specimens should be frozen only if indicated in the Specimen Requirement section. Separate, label, and freeze the samples as quickly as possible. Submit a separate frozen sample for each requested test.

What are the rules when collecting specimens?

Specimen collection and processing procedures

• Avoid patient identification errors.
• Draw the tubes in the proper sequence.
• Use proper containers for collection.
• Mix all tubes ten times by gentle inversion immediately after collection.
• Do not decant specimens from one type of container into another.