Reducing contamination incidence in blood culture, an immediate health care priority, is solvable with available techniques and technology. While nearly all patients with suspected bloodstream infection have blood cultured, contamination is substantially more prevalent in communities without access to dedicated (and expensive) phlebotomy teams and is thus substantially more costly to communities with fewer personnel and financing resources. Antibiotic resistance is a global concern and antimicrobial stewardship must be a global initiative with proactive investments. To illustrate with a practice-pertinent example, in patient safety we invoke the current state of blood culture, where contamination may be eliminated with the adoption of cost-saving techniques and technology, but a lack of awareness and outdated standards have impeded uptake. This session will provide nurses with knowledge on specific guidelines and interventions to reduce specimen contamination during blood culture procedure.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, learners will be able to: 

1.     Recognize that outdated blood culture practice standards have led to negative local and global consequences for patient safety, health care equity, and antimicrobial stewardship

2.     Describe how modern tools and techniques can circumvent the collapse of blood culture protocol that frequently occurs in the presence of environmental stressors associated with nursing

3.     Explain strategies to meet blood culture practice targets that sustainably exceed both established and anticipated quality standards