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Cited by 84Clinical Laboratory Practices and Quality ControlHealthcare RegulationInnovations in Medical Education

Survey of national guidelines, education and training on phlebotomy in 28 European countries: an original report by the European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (EFLM) working group for the preanalytical phase (WG-PA)

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Simundic, Ana-Maria, Cornes, Michael, Grankvist, Kjell, Lippi, Giuseppe, Nybo, Mads, Kovalevskaya, Svjetlana, Sprongl, Ludek, Sumarac, Zorica +1 more·2013·Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (CCLM)
DOI 10.1515/cclm-2013-0283
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Abstract

Background: European questionnaire survey was conducted by the European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine Working Group for the Preanalytical Phase (EFLM WG-PA) to assess how phlebotomy is performed in EFLM countries, including differences in personnel, level of education and skills, and to investigate the presence and compliance of national phlebotomy guidelines on this matter. Methods: A questionnaire was constructed containing questions elucidating different aspects of the organization behind the phlebotomy praxis on a national basis, including questions on the staff performing phlebotomy, the education of these staff members, and the existence of and adherence to national guidelines. All 39 EFLM member countries were invited to participate. Results: In total 28/39 (72%) EFLM member countries responded. Seven out of the 28 (25%) have national phlebotomy guidelines and five have implemented other guidelines. The estimated compliance with phlebotomy guidance for the laboratories in the countries that have national guidelines available is poor, regardless to whether the phlebotomy was under the laboratory control or not. Most countries were interested in EFLM guidelines and to participate in a pilot EFLM preanalytical phase external quality assessment (EQA) scheme. In the responding EFLM member countries, the majority of phlebotomy is performed by nurses and laboratory technicians. Their basic education is generally 4–5 years of high school, followed by 2–5 years of colleague or university studies. Only a third (10/28; 36%) of the participating member countries has any specific training available as a continuous educational resource. A specific training for phlebotomy is not part of the education required to become qualified in 6/28 (21%) and 9/28 (32%) of countries for nurses and laboratory technicians, respectively. In countries and professions where training is required, most require more than 5 h of training. Conclusions: Based on the results of this survey we conclude the following: 1) There is a need to assess the quality of current practices, compliance to the CLSI H3-A6 guidelines and to identify some most critical steps which occur during phlebotomy, in different healthcare settings, across Europe; 2) Existing CLSI H3-A6 phlebotomy guidelines should be adapted and used locally in all European countries which do not have their own guidelines; 3) National EFLM societies need to be engaged in basic training program development and continuous education of healthcare phlebotomy staff (implementing the certification of competence).

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Authors
Simundic, A.-M., Cornes, M., Grankvist, K., Lippi, G., Nybo, M., Kovalevskaya, S., Sprongl, L., Sumarac, Z., & Church, S.
Affiliations
  • EFLM WG-PA Chair, University Department of Chemistry, Sestre milosrdnice University Hospital Center, Vinogradska 29, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia
  • New Cross Hospital (GB)
  • Umeå University (SE)
  • Ospedale di Parma (IT)
  • Odense University Hospital (DK)
  • Labstory Company , Saint Petersburg , Russian Federation
  • Central Laboratory, Sumperk, Czech Republic
  • Center for Medical Biochemistry, Clinical Center of Serbia , Belgrade , Serbia
  • BD Diagnostics, Preanalytical Systems, Oxford, UK
ORCID
Venue
Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (CCLM)
Publisher
Walter de Gruyter GmbH
Published
2013-05-14
Volume
51
Issue
8
Pages
1585-1593
ISSN
  • 1434-6621 (ISSN-L)
  • 1437-4331
DOI
10.1515/cclm-2013-0283
OpenAlex
W2127617996
Semantic Scholar
099cb6e29f6a116f021fa3cf6436cc655464ad00
Cited by
84
References
45
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 13 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 2
FWCI
6.48
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (CCLM) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • University of Southern Denmark Research Portal (University of Southern Denmark) (publishedVersion)
  • KTH Publication Database DiVA (KTH Royal Institute of Technology) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Clinical Laboratory Practices and Quality Control
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › Health Information Management › Healthcare Regulation
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Innovations in Medical Education
Keywords
phlebotomy, pre-analytical phase, guideline adherence, nurses, laboratory technicians, external quality assessment, European countries
MeSH terms
Chemistry, Clinical, Data Collection, Educational Status, European Union, Humans, Professional Practice, Surveys and Questionnaires, Medical Laboratory Science, Guidelines as Topic, Phlebotomy

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