Causes of blood culture contamination at Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital

Phlebotomy has been practiced for centuries and is still one of the most common invasive procedures in health care. Each step in the process of phlebotomy affects the quality of the specimen and is thus important for preventing laboratory error, patient injury and even death. For example, the touch of a finger to verify the location of a vein before insertion of the needle increases the chances that a specimen will be contaminated. This causes false blood culture results, prolonged hospitalization, delayed diagnosis and unnecessary use of antibiotics.

This study aimed to calculate the rate of blood culture contamination and establish factors associated with it, including health care worker’s knowledge of blood cultures.