Question 1

While validating a differential, a technologist notices the requisition belongs to a co-worker who staffs the evening shift in the same laboratory. Later that day the co-worker stops the technologist by the lift and asks what her platelet count turned out to be. What should the technologist do?

Accepted Answer

Refer her to her physician for the result — Being an employee does not create a route to your own results that bypasses the ordering clinician. The technologist has the count only because of a work task, and using it for any other purpose is an unauthorised disclosure even to the person it describes. Directing the co-worker to her physician keeps the release inside the approved channel and keeps the result attached to someone who can interpret it.

Question 2

A technologist is called to the far bench to take a telephone enquiry and leaves the analyser terminal displaying a named patient worklist. The terminal sits on a corridor-facing counter that porters and visitors walk past. Which action best protects the information on that display?

Accepted Answer

Lock the workstation before leaving — Locking the session is the only step that removes the information from view immediately and ties any later activity back to the person who unlocks it. Timeouts leave a window of exposure whose length nobody controls, and physical measures such as turning a screen or posting a watcher depend on someone remembering. Lock-before-you-leave is the habit auditors look for at shared terminals.

Question 3

Four items are waiting on a community laboratory bench at 14:10: a citrated coagulation tube drawn at 12:40 with a four-hour stability limit, a CBC from a booked diabetes clinic, an outpatient ESR dropped off at the front counter, and a reticulocyte count requested for the late-afternoon run. Which item should be worked first?

Accepted Answer

The citrated coagulation sample — Sequencing follows the tightest clock, not the arrival queue. The citrated tube is the only item with a stability limit that will expire during the shift, and once it passes, factor activity falls and the sample cannot be salvaged — it must be recollected from the patient. The CBC, ESR and reticulocyte count all hold long enough to be batched afterwards without loss of quality.

Question 4

A solo technologist opens the haematology bench at 07:00. The first ward collection round is expected at 07:45, and the cell counter needs a 25-minute start-up calibration before patient samples can be reported. How should the first 45 minutes be used?

Accepted Answer

Start the calibration right at 07:00 — Instrument readiness belongs in the window when no specimens are waiting. Starting at 07:00 places the whole 25 minutes inside the quiet period, so the analyser is verified and available the moment the collection round lands. Every alternative pushes the same fixed 25 minutes into a period when samples are queuing, which converts unavoidable setup time into avoidable turnaround delay.

Question 5

At a haematology clinic for monthly counts, a patient rolls up the left sleeve and explains that this side is always used because lymph nodes were removed from the right axilla two years ago. The requisition carries no note about site restrictions. How should the technologist proceed?

Accepted Answer

Collect from the left arm as asked — The patient is reporting a genuine site restriction, and axillary node dissection is a standard reason to avoid drawing blood on that side because of lymphoedema risk. A usable vein is available on the unaffected arm, so the collection can proceed immediately on the side the patient names, with the restriction documented for future visits. Nothing about the situation requires escalation or delay.

Question 6

On a home-visit round for an anticoagulation monitoring programme, the first citrated tube stops filling well short of the mark. The technologist prepares a second tube, and the patient asks why the first one will not do. Which response best supports the patient's involvement in their own care?

Accepted Answer

Explain how fill volume affects INR — The question is about the testing process, which sits squarely inside a technologist's scope to answer. A short plain explanation — the tube holds a fixed amount of anticoagulant, so an underfilled draw shifts the blood-to-citrate ratio and lengthens the clotting time — tells the patient why the extra stick is worth accepting. Explaining the reason invites cooperation; deflecting the question or citing policy leaves the patient guessing.

Professionalism

Guarding what you see on the haematology bench

Shaping a shift around specimen clocks

Working with the patient, not just the specimen