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 Brigham & Women's Hospital Clinical Pathology & Laboratories

Collection and Labeling of Inpatient Specimens

The correct labeling of blood and body fluid specimens is critical to the administration of effective health care for patients at Brigham & Women's Hospital. To ensure the efficient and correct labeling of blood/body fluid specimens, employees must strictly adhere to the following procedures and guidelines.
  1. At the patient bedside: before drawing blood or collecting body fluids:
    • Check the imprinted label, requisition, and the patient arm band.
    • If all three match, draw the blood or collect the fluid.
    • Label the tube or container.
    • Inset the specimen in, or attach it to the requisition.

  2. In the Admitting Test Center and the outpatient phlebotomy areas:
    • Keep labels and requisitions with the patient so they will not be mixed with other patient labels. 
    • Verbally identify the patient. 
    • Check the requisition against the labels. 
    • Label the tubes or containers. 
    • Insert tubes in, or attach tubes to, the requisition before the patient leaves the blood drawing chair.

  3. In labor and delivery: In an emergency, labels may be completed in legible writing if no adressograph plate is available. The labeling must be done at the bedside to ensure proper identification of the specimen with the patient:
    • Check the patient's wristband with the labels.
    • Ask for the patient's name with correct spelling as you write it on the labels.
    • If available, the medical record number must also be included on the label.
    • Mark the tube with the date, time, and initials of the person drawing the blood or collecting the fluid at the bedside.

  4. Throughout the hospital, in extreme emergencies, the procedure outlines for Labor and Delivery should be followed. If the patient's identity is not known, any available identifying information should be written on the tube label.

  5. All tubes intended for use in the Blood Bank MUST be labeled with the date, time, and initials of the person drawing blood at the bedside.

  6. Careless or inefficient performance by an employee (physician, nurse, technologist, phlebotomist, etc.) resulting in failure to maintain satisfactory standards of performance is considered a violation of hospital rules, and will be subject to disciplinary proceedings under Personnel Policy III-20.

  7. Specimens received in the laboratory that are mislabeled may be rejected if the true patient identity cannot be verified. Every effort will be made to contact the appropriate nursing unit on inpatients to attempt to verify the identity of the specimen. Individuals accepting the responsibility for identification of the specimen will be listed in the patient's result record as the responsible party.