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Signs of nerve injury include severe, unusual, or shooting pain, tingling or numbness, or a tremor in the arm. If the patient complains of any of these symptoms during venipuncture, withdraw the needle immediately.undefined#ref3">3
Draw specimens for a blood culture before administering antibiotics.
Don appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) based on the patient’s signs and symptoms and indications for isolation precautions.
OVERVIEW
A blood culture specimen set requires that 20 to 30 ml1 of blood be obtained at one time from one location. Blood culture specimens should be drawn when the patient is experiencing signs and symptoms of bloodstream infection, including fever or chills, and before the administration of antibiotics to increase the likelihood of obtaining a true-positive result. If the patient has been receiving antibiotics at the time the blood cultures are obtained, the laboratory should be notified because an additive can be applied to the blood culture medium to negate the antibiotic’s effect.18 Typically, two sets of blood cultures are ordered, and each set (Figure 1)