Table 1 Most common problems reported or observed during on-site evaluation visits of the eight selected health institution medical laboratories from December 2011 to December 2012
From: External quality assessment for acid fast bacilli smear microscopy in eastern part of Ethiopia
Problems found | Laboratories N (%) |
|---|---|
Laboratory safety | |
No separate area for TB work | 8 (100) |
No adequate ventilation | 5 (62.5) |
No biohazard waste bin with a lid | 4 (50) |
Improper use of PPE | 7 (87.5) |
Inappropriate cleaning procedure | 7 (87.5) |
Laboratory reagents | |
Expired reagents or no label | 3 (37.5) |
Not filtered before use | 7 (87.5) |
Filtered once a month | 4 (50) |
Laboratory supplies | |
No staining rack | 5 (62.5) |
No wire loop | 6 (75) |
No funnel | 4 (50) |
No analytical balance | 8 (100) |
Microscope | |
Not sufficient | 4 (50) |
Inadequate light source | 6 (75) |
Objective not cleaned after positive slide | 7 (87.5) |
No routine care/daily maintenance | 7 (87.5) |
Smearing and staining procedures | |
Background staining not acceptable | 3 (37.5) |
Background material doesn’t represent sputum | 4 (50) |
Inappropriate smear thickness | 5 (62.5) |
Inappropriate smear size | 4 (50) |
Report with grading | 6 (75) |
Include control smears | |
Daily | 2 (25) |
New batch of reagents | 5 (62.5) |
Never | 2 (25) |
Time taken to examine 100 fields | |
5 min | 4 (50) |
10 min | 3 (37.5) |
15 min | 1 (12.5) |
Administrative | |
High workload | 4 (50) |
Incomplete laboratory request form | 7 (87.5) |
No NTP approved report forms | 3 (37.5) |
EQA | |
Participated | 7 (87.5) |
Rechecking result received | 3 (37.5) |