Debut Presentation!
4700 Personal and Process Improvement through P.C.T.C.: Problem Solving, Communication, Team Building & Customer Service

8:30 am - 5:00 pm 7.0 CMLE Credits

Helen C. Ogden-Grable, MT(ASCP)PBT
Creative Phlebotomy & Laboratory Solutions, Adjunct Professor, Edison State College, Naples, FL

Susan J. Hudson, RN, BSN, MPH, CIC, LHRM
Health Management Associates, Inc., Corporate Office, Naples, FL

Personal improvement is an important component of all professions. This is especially true for the entire spectrum of the laboratory team at a time when healthcare facilities are striving to refine and improve their internal processes. Attend this workshop to gain a thorough understanding of how you can meet the challenges of any laboratory environment. You’ll discover how your professional development contributes substantially to the success of the process improvement efforts of your laboratory. You’ll participate in thorough discussions of team building, effective communication, problem solving, positive patient outcomes, cost containment and savings, and evidence-based healthcare. Group activities also will highlight and reinforce the importance of your role in the laboratory’s most important goal of providing the best patient care.

Following this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Assess the need for process improvement in your workplace.
• Apply team building acumen.
• Utilize effective communication skills.
• Identify customer needs and produce the desired outcomes.
• Employ new problem solving skills.

9328  Phlebotomy Ps and Qs
8:30 am - 4:00 pm    6.0 CMLE Credits

Karen A. Brown, MS, MLS(ASCP)^CM
Professor and Program Director, Department of Pathology, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT

Laboratory medicine is continually changing and new specimen requirements, safety advances, and regulatory guidelines often affect the phlebotomist. Designed for phlebotomists and for those who teach phlebotomy, this workshop will specifically discuss:

• the circulatory system, coagulation as it pertains to phlebotomy, blood collection additives, and venipuncture technique, including pediatric and geriatric patients
• preanalytical and physiological factors affecting specimen collection
• ethical considerations, problem patients, and communication skills
• quality assurance in the phlebotomy setting, including patient identification and preparation, safety, and routine as well as legal issues
• questions to resolve regarding phlebotomy as a profession

Case studies will emphasize important concepts throughout.

Following this workshop, you will be able to:

• Identify preanalytical and physiological factors that can interfere with specimen quality.
• Discuss situations that warrant special preparation of the patient before venipuncture.
• Describe the process for properly performing a routine venipuncture.
• Describe precautionary measures and actions that must be implemented to ensure safety in the phlebotomy setting and to comply with federal regulations.
• Develop techniques for improving professional image through effective patient interactions.
• Correlate improper collection techniques and interfering factors with specific consequences to patients and test results.

9436     Body Fluids: a Practical Approach
8:30 am - 4:00 pm       6.0 CMLE Credits

Leilani Collins, MT(ASCP)SH
Associate Professor at University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN

The correct identification of cells in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), serous (pericardial, pleural, peritoneal, ascitic) fluids, and synovial (joint) fluids is vital for accurate diagnosis and treatment of many diseases. Attend this workshop to advance your skills and increase your confidence when performing these important analyses. You will benefit from information-filled discussion and images of the normal and abnormal, benign and malignant cells that you need to identify in each type of fluid, in addition to the clinically significant crystals occurring in synovial fluids. A brief discussion of findings in bronchoalveolar lavage specimens will be included. Case presentations will be incorporated throughout the presentation.


Following this workshop, you will be able to:

• Describe normal cells found in cerebrospinal, serous, and synovial fluids.
• Recognize the common characteristics of malignant cells found in body fluids.
• Distinguish clinically significant crystals in synovial fluids.