Continuous quality control of the blood sampling procedure using a structured observation scheme

Abstract Background Because of the immaturity and severe condition preterm infants undergoes a lot of painful and stressful procedures during their care that can cause short-term and long-term negative consequences. Maintenance of optimal comfort is essential for good clinical practice. To assess the comfort of preterm infants before and after the capillary blood sampling procedure. Methods The quantitative observational study was conducted in May 2019—February 2020 in the University hospital NICU. The research instrument was a neonatal comfort scale COMFORTneo, which total scores ranged 6–30. Higher scores indicated higher discomfort. Preterm infant comfort was assessed before the capillary blood sampling procedure and 30 min. after applying non-pharmacological pain relief and comfort assurance methods and implementing the procedure. The research was conducted in accordance with ethical principles. Results Comfort was assessed in 157 preterm newborns with a gestational age of 30 ± 3.3 weeks and a postnatal age of 6.0 ± 5.7 days. The mean value of neonatal comfort before the capillary blood sampling procedure was 10.0 ± 3.2 points, after the procedure 9.1 ± 2.4 points. A statistically significant inverse relationship was found between pre-procedure and post-procedure comfort (Z = -5.374; P < 0.001). A statistically significant weak inverse relationship was found between gestational age and comfort scores before the procedure (r = -0.204; P = 0.01) and after the procedure (r = -0.321; P = 0.008). Conclusions In most cases, preterm infants were feeling moderate discomfort before and after the capillary blood sampling procedure. Newborns had more discomfort before the procedure than 30 min. after the completion of the procedure. Lower gestational age newborns were feeling greater discomfort.

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Continuous Quality Control and Advanced Text Segment Annotation with WAT-SL 2.0

10.18653/v1/w19-4025 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Christina Lohr ◽

Johannes Kiesel ◽

Stephanie Luther ◽

Johannes Hellrich ◽

Tobias Kolditz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quality Control ◽

Continuous Quality ◽

Text Segment

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Improving the quality of venous blood sampling procedure (phlebotomy): avoiding tourniquet use

10.1101/2020.04.05.20039560 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Francisco Freitas ◽

Mónica Alves

Keyword(s):

Venous Blood ◽

Real Life ◽

Sampling Procedure ◽

T Test ◽

Blood Sampling ◽

Age Group ◽

The Individual ◽

Sampling Procedures ◽

Without Tourniquet ◽

Venous Blood Sampling

AbstractBackgroundGuidelines for venous blood sampling procedure (phlebotomy) discourage tourniquet use whenever possible. Here, we aimed to assess the Biomedical Scientists capability of not using the tourniquet in phlebotomy, which we hypothesized to be equal to 50% of the patients attended, and identifying the most frequent venipuncture site.Materials and MethodsWe selected and assigned two (BMS) with the same age (41 years) and experience (20 years) to record ten phlebotomy days, the first with prioritized and the latter with non-prioritized patients. In a simple record form, each acquired daily data for the number of attended patients, age and gender, the frequency of non-tourniquet usage and the punctured vein. To test our work hypothesis we used the two-tailed single sample t-test (p < 0.05). Differences between age-group means and non-tourniquet use means by each BMS were tested by two-tailed t-test for independent means (p < 0.05).ResultsIn 10 phlebotomy days 683 patients were attended, with males representing 43,2% of the population. We found no statistically difference between age-group means. The combined capability of non-tourniquet use was 50,5%, which did not differ from our null hypothesis, but the individual group-means were statistically different, being 33% and 66.9% in the prioritized vs non-prioritized group. The medial cubital vein was the most prone to be punctured (77,7%).ConclusionsWe have shown that performing phlebotomies without tourniquet use is possible and desirable in at least half of the attended patients, though being more limited in specific group populations. Our results provide room for quality improvement in the laboratory pre-analytical phase.Key points summaryWe assessed the capability of Biomedical Scientists not using the tourniquet in real life blood sampling procedures for diagnostic purposes.Blood was collected from at least half of the attended patients without tourniquet use.Biomedical Scientists were able to prioritize the antecubital veins without tourniquet application (medial cubital vein the most prone to be punctured - 78% of attempts).

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Continuous Quality Control And Improvement: An Engineering Depiction Of A Confounded Simple Concept

10.18260/1-2--1858 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Jinglu Tan

Keyword(s):

Quality Control ◽

Simple Concept ◽

Continuous Quality

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Towards Intelligent and Sustainable Production: Combining and Integrating Online Predictive Maintenance and Continuous Quality Control

Procedia CIRP ◽

10.1016/j.procir.2017.03.099 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 63 ◽

pp. 443-448 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

John Lindström ◽

Hans Larsson ◽

Martin Jonsson ◽

Erik Lejon

Keyword(s):

Quality Control ◽

Sustainable Production ◽

Predictive Maintenance ◽

Continuous Quality

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Review From Multiple Perspectives for the State of the Practice on the Use of Recycled Asphalt Materials and Recycling Agents in Asphalt Concrete Surface Mixtures

Transportation Research Record Journal of the Transportation Research Board ◽

10.1177/03611981211061130 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 036119812110611

Author(s):

Jhony Habbouche ◽

Ilker Boz ◽

Benjamin Shane Underwood ◽

Cassie Castorena ◽

Saqib Gulzar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quality Control ◽

Asphalt Concrete ◽

Asphalt Binder ◽

Concrete Surface ◽

Lessons Learned ◽

Multiple Perspectives ◽

Recycled Asphalt ◽

Recycled Materials ◽

Continuous Quality ◽

Virginia Department

The objective of this paper is to provide information from multiple perspectives on the current state of the practice with regard to using recycled materials and recycling agents (RAs) in asphalt concrete mixtures. This information was collected through a survey of U.S. transportation agencies and RA suppliers combined with a search of RA-related specifications and pilot projects previously constructed. Moreover, a case study describing the Virginia Department of Transportation’s experience with RAs provides a tangible example of how at least one agency is approaching the potential implementation of these technologies. This practice review was achieved by documenting the experience, lessons learned, and best practices of multiple asphalt experienced contractors and asphalt binder suppliers in the Virginia area. This paper follows a similar survey conducted in 2014 as part of NCHRP 09-58 and provides a second look at the use of RAs across North America. Not all state departments of transportation have experience with using RAs. Factors preventing the use of RAs included specification limitations, lack of expertise in processing recycled materials, supporting data, and negative prior experiences. Developing a performance-based testing framework is mandatory for the successful use of RAs. In general, good and frequent communication with the RA supplier is critical and necessary during the planning stages, the production of mixtures, and the continuous quality control by the supplier to resolve issues when they arise. Finally, a strong quality control and quality assurance-testing program should be implemented to ensure that materials meet the properties needed to produce a good-performing mixture.

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