mo_bio_guy

If you could create a device that could be placed on the patient floors that properly and securely tightens the lids on stool specimen cups, you would have lab techs spending their own money to get those. Nothing is worse than a sample for C diff that goes through the pneumatic tube system and leaks out into the bag.

I had a stool sample erupt like a muddy volcano from a specimen cup.

A baby diaper with such a large amount of diarrhea that it dripped out of the diaper.

A urine that was so bloody I thought it was a blood sample at first.

A vaginal swab that looked like someone dunked it in a jar of yellow wedding cake frosting.

A toe

A fetus

A chunk of skull

A prosthetic knee joint

An entire femur.

Whoa. They do exist. Do you have a blood center with a source donor?

One of the tests performed in the lab is the Prothrombin time. This test is used to typically monitor oral anti-coagulant therapy (blood thinners) the normal value is 0.8-1.1 for people not on anti-coagulants, and 2.0-3.5 for people who are at risk for clots. I had a value the other day of >20. What this means is that the blood, after the addition of reagents that are supposed to make it clot, never clotted. This patient had no ability to stop bleeding whatsoever.

It makes me more conscious of where my hands have been. If my eye itches, I have to think if I changed my gloves after streaking out that gonorrhoeae culture. The old "wash your hands before you eat" saying is mandatory if you work in the microbiology department. I had a co-worker get C. difficile from sneaking M&Ms from her pocket.