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28 multiple-choice questions and 11 flashcards on Specimen Handling, Processing, Transport, and Special Collections, about 17% of the Phlebotomy Technician Certification bank. Every one carries a written rationale.
Specimen Handling, Processing, Transport, and Special Collections is one of 5 chapters in CoStudy's Phlebotomy Technician Certification bank, and it holds 28 of the bank's 166 multiple-choice questions — roughly 17% of the total. That proportion is not arbitrary: chapters follow the certifying body's published exam outline, and the number of questions in each is set by that domain's published weight, so the share of your practice time this chapter takes matches the share of the real exam it accounts for.
Studying by chapter is worth doing once you have a diagnostic score. A single overall percentage tells you whether you are close; it does not tell you which domain is dragging. Working a weak chapter in isolation, and re-testing it in isolation, is the fastest way to move a score that has stalled — and it is why the mock exams in CoStudy report by domain rather than as one number.
8 questions drawn from this chapter, with the full rationale shown — the controlling principle behind the right answer, and why each wrong option tempts and fails.
Why is precise collection timing critical for therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) specimens such as peak and trough levels?
Answer: D — Drug concentrations change over time, and inaccurate timing can lead to incorrect dosing decisions that risk toxicity or subtherapeutic treatment
A) Drug levels fluctuate significantly within hours; same-day collection without precise timing is not sufficient. B) Fasting status is unrelated to most TDM assays; timing relative to dosing is the key variable. C) TDM results are highly time-sensitive, not stable regardless of draw time. D) Correct — because drug concentration changes predictably over the dosing interval, accurate peak/trough timing ensures dosing is adjusted safely and effectively.
Frozen specimens for sendout should be:
Answer: C — Kept frozen during transport in dry ice
A) Destroys analytes. B) Wrong. C) Correct. D) Freeze-thaw degrades.
Standard centrifuge spin parameters for serum/plasma separation are approximately:
Answer: D — 10-15 minutes at 1000-2000 RCF
A) Insufficient. B) Excessive. C) Subjective. D) Correct.
Light-sensitive analytes include:
Answer: C — Bilirubin, vitamin B12, folate
A/B/D) Wrong. C) Correct — wrap in foil immediately.
To centrifuge an SST tube, the analyst should first:
Answer: A — Allow at least 30 minutes for clotting
A) Correct. B) Fibrin contamination. C/D) Wrong.
For most refrigerated specimens, storage temperature is:
Answer: A — 2-8°C
A) Correct. B) Frozen. C) Room. D) Body temp (warm transport only).
A tube is submitted to the lab containing only 1.5 mL of blood in a tube designed for a 5 mL fill volume with an additive. What is the primary rejection concern?
Answer: A — Quantity not sufficient (QNS), which can also cause an incorrect additive-to-blood ratio affecting test results
A) Correct — an underfilled additive tube is a QNS rejection concern because the additive-to-blood ratio becomes skewed, which can alter results (e.g., coagulation testing). B) Tube color is not the issue described; volume is. C) Hemolysis refers to red cell rupture, not underfilling. D) Order of draw errors relate to cross-contamination between additives, not directly to fill volume.
Aliquoting specimens requires:
Answer: A — Pipetting with proper PPE and accurate volume measurement
A) Correct. B) Splash hazard. C/D) Wrong.
4 cards from the 11 in this chapter.
Layers of blood after centrifuge?
Top: plasma/serum. Middle: buffy coat (WBC + platelets). Bottom: RBCs (~45% in adults = hematocrit).
Major pre-analytical errors?
Wrong patient, wrong tube, mislabeling, incorrect order of draw, hemolysis, prolonged tourniquet, underfilled tubes, delayed centrifugation.
Name two lab analytes that require light protection during specimen transport.
Bilirubin and folate (also carotene and vitamin A/vitamin B6 in some protocols) — light exposure degrades these analytes.
Why must ammonia specimens be transported on ice immediately after collection?
Ammonia levels rise rapidly at room temperature due to ongoing cellular metabolism, so rapid chilling and processing prevent falsely elevated results.
These are a sample. The full Specimen Handling, Processing, Transport, and Special Collections chapter runs 39 items with per-chapter progress tracking, on the web and in the iOS app.
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