Safety management of nasopharyngeal specimen collection from suspected cases of coronavirus disease 2019

Yan Qian; Tieying Zeng; Hui Wang; Min Xu; Junhua Chen; Na Hu; Daiqi Chen; Yu Liu

doi:10.1016/j.ijnss.2020.03.012

Safety management of nasopharyngeal specimen collection from suspected cases of coronavirus disease 2019

Int J Nurs Sci. 2020 Apr 4;7(2):153-156. doi: 10.1016/j.ijnss.2020.03.012. eCollection 2020 Apr 10.

Authors

Yan Qian¹, Tieying Zeng¹, Hui Wang¹, Min Xu¹, Junhua Chen¹, Na Hu¹, Daiqi Chen¹, Yu Liu¹

Affiliation

¹ Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.

Abstract

This article introduces safety management strategies of nasopharyngeal specimen collection from suspected cases of coronavirus disease 2019 in a tertiary designated hospital. The key points include establishing a special sampling room, strict sterilization of the entire environment, training of professional nurses, enhancement of personal protection, standardization of methods and processes for swab collection, and a timely and safety sample submission. More than 11,000 nasopharyngeal specimens were collected by eight nurses, with an average of 1,375 specimen swab collections each nurse, and no one was infected.

Keywords: Coronavirus disease 2019; Nasopharyngeal swabs; Safety management; Specimen collection.