Question

A phlebotomy technician is instructing a patient about how to collect a sputum specimen. Which of the following statements should the technician make?

1) Collect the sputum specimen in a sterile container.
2) Collect the sputum specimen in a plastic bag.
3) Collect the sputum specimen in a glass jar.
4) Collect the sputum specimen in a paper cup.

Answer 1

A phlebotomy technician should advise a patient to collect a sputum specimen in a sterile container to prevent contamination and to ensure accurate laboratory results.

Step-by-step explanation:

The correct instruction a phlebotomy technician should give for collecting a sputum specimen is: "Collect the sputum specimen in a sterile container." It is crucial to use sterile equipment when handling specimens to prevent contamination and ensure the accuracy of any subsequent laboratory analyses. Collecting specimens in a non-sterile container such as a plastic bag, glass jar, or paper cup could introduce foreign contaminants that might interfere with the test results and compromise the quality of the sample.

Using a sterile container is a fundamental practice in clinical laboratory procedures and phlebotomy. Sterility is maintained to protect against inadvertent introduction of bacteria, viruses, or other microbes that could skew the diagnostics or lead to erroneous medical conclusions. According to standard microbiological and phlebotomy practices, tubes or bottles used for specimen collection should be handled with careful aseptic techniques, ensuring that specimens reflect the patient's condition accurately without external microbial contamination.