You are doing rounds at the beginning of your shift when you notice a sputum specimen sitting on the bedside table in a patient's room. You ask the patient when he produced the sputum specimen
You learn the specimen is about 4 hours old. Knowing this information, what action would you take?
A) Immediately take the sputum specimen to the laboratory
B) Discard the specimen and assist the patient in obtaining another specimen
C) Refrigerate the sputum specimen
D) Wait an additional 2 hours before sending the specimen to the laboratory
Ans: B
Feedback: A sputum specimen should be delivered to the laboratory within 2 hours of collection. Allowing the specimen to stand for several hours in a warm room results in the overgrowth of contaminated organisms and may make it difficult to identify the pathogenic organisms. Refrigeration of the sputum specimen is not an appropriate action.
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