Johanna Johansson – Emergency Nurse
How does hemolysed blood samples affect your work?
It is clear that hemolysis is a disruptive factor that takes time for both nurses and doctors when it comes to assessments of the patient and treatment thereof. I work in an emergency department where it often is urgent with some test results and when it takes longer than expect it gives rise to negative consequences. Then, of course, it never feels good to have to stick a patient several times, it happens that the same patient has to be venipunctured both once and twice due to hemolysis.
When do you feel that there is usually hemolysis?
Some days it is more hemolysis and some it is less, it is difficult to say why it is so. My feeling is that the samples we get hemolysis in are usually taken on multi-sick patients where the patient is subjected to repeated venipunctures, but it also happens on other groups of patients. I also think it depends on how the sample is taken, there are obviously things we can do to reduce the risk of having hemolysis. There are simply many factors that come into play. For example, at the emergency department, there is a high workload which means that you sometimes do not have time to do everything according to the manual. It is often a stressful situation where the blood sample must be taken quickly.
You have tested Hemcheck’s product concept, what do you think of it?
It was very easy to use, which is great! If we get such a concept into our daily work, I think we will save both time and suffering. I see, of course, primarily that it would be used on blood samples that are sensitive to hemolysis and in patients where you have to get the test results quickly and patients that are difficult to draw blood from or on samples taken on children.