Proper specimen labeling is required to protect patients from adverse consequences of errors due to improper labeling and to meet laboratory accreditation requirements. Always label specimens while still in the presence of the patient/at the bedside.

The following policy for unacceptably labeled specimens will be enforced:

  1. Se considerará que una muestra está etiquetada de manera inaceptable si el recipiente que contiene la muestra (tubo de ensayo, recipiente de orina, frasco de muestras, hisopo, etc.) no tiene el apellido y el nombre del paciente y el número de registro médico o la fecha de nacimiento.
  2. Note: The specimen container itself must be properly labeled. If a specimen is placed in a plastic bag, it is not adequate to place a label on the bag rather than on the tube. Whenever the specimen itself is not labeled, the label will be considered unacceptable.
  3. The specimen will be considered unacceptably labeled if the specimen arrives in the laboratory where the name on the specimen differs from the name on the requisition or the requisition has more than one name.
  4. Si el espécimen marcado de manera inaceptable es uno que se puede obtener por venopunción o recolección (p. ej. muestra de orina) se notificará a la unidad que se requiere una nueva muestra.
  5. If the unacceptably labeled specimen is one that cannot be re-obtained (CSF, body fluids such as peritoneal or synovial fluid, bone marrow, stones, operative specimens, catheter tips, special procedural collections [e.g. bronchoalveolar lavages], or non-line arterial blood gases), the person who originally collected the specimen must acknowledge the identity of the specimen in writing.
  6. All specimens for the Blood Bank require a new specimen on any unacceptably labeled specimen. There are no exceptions. Click here to view UCH “Administration of Blood Components” policy.
  7. La colocación adecuada de las etiquetas con códigos de barras es esencial para todos los tubos de muestras de sangre de 5 y 7 ml. Las etiquetas deben ser rectas, sin arrugas y orientadas de la siguiente manera:

specimen labeling
Refer to “Get It Straight” flyer.