[ESTIMATE OF THE INTRINSIC ERROR OF THE MEASURING INSTRUMENT OF THE LABORATORY FOR ANALYTICAL DETERMINATIONS OF THE CRITICAL PATIENT]. / Estimación del error intrínseco del instrumento de medida del laboratorio. PARA LAS DETERMINACIONES ANALÍTICAS DEL PACIENTE CRÍTICO.

Decrease blood loss associated with the analytical laboratory is a determinant of safety and quality in the preanalytical phase, in order to achieve an optimal level of care, where nurses have leading role to be responsible for the care of the critically ill patient.

[Extraction of blood samples in the critical patient]. / Extracción de muestras sanguíneas en el paciente crítico: práctica enfermera.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the competence of nursing in blood extractions in the Intensive Care. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Transversal descriptive study was done during one week of November 2010. 90 nurses working in intensive care units participate in the study. We collected information related to the normal practice. RESULTS: When the patient has an arterial catheter, the nurses choose this way to extract the blood samples. The volume of blood extracted through the arterial catheter before taking the sample, through a venous catheter and the volume of blood that is taken for an arterial blood gas analysis depends of the nurse unit. A 94,2 % of the nurses think that it is a relevant item but there were no protocols. CONCLUSION: The volume of blood extracted previous obtaining the sample, and the blood taking for analysis is higher than the minimum recommended. There are no protocols in this line.