NURSING ENGLISH

For Laboratory Technicians

(3rd Undergraduate)
Dr T.A. Banonoko, MD, M.Sc

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 Contents
Chapter 1: Grammatical backgrounds
Chapter 2: The Laboratory Technician
Chapter 3: The Laboratory Equipment
Chapter 4: The Microscope
Chapter 5: Laboratory procedures
Chapter 6 : The Urinalysis
Chapter 7 : The blood tests
Chapter 8 : Abbreviations
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 Chapter One: Grammar background
• Present tense Vs present continuous tense
• Question words: Who – what – when – where –
Why – How
• Prepositions: positions and directions
• Verbs: auxiliaries, regular and irregular verbs,
Future tenses (simple and conditional), Active and
passive voices
• Comparisons: Inferiority – equality – superiority –
superlative

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 Chapter 2: The Laboratory Technician
A lab technician collects and processes specimens, including skin and
bodily fluid samples, from patients in a hospital or private medical
diagnostic laboratory. He or she works under a laboratory
technologist's supervision using procedures that help medical
professionals diagnose diseases and, subsequently, plan treatments
and ascertain their effectiveness. An alternative title for this career is
medical laboratory technician.

A laboratory technician must perform select procedures on blood

and/or other body fluids or specimens, involving manual techniques
or the use of laboratory instruments and information systems. He
also performs venous, arterial and capillary punctures on patients.
He needs to identify and label all samples collected with correct
patient information. He has top prepare the specimen and decide
the suitability of the specimen for the requested test.
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 The Laboratory Technician (End)
He is advised to follow proper guidelines for safe
handling of blood, body fluids and hazardous
chemicals. After testing, he is obliged to report
laboratory test results.

According to the ethics, he is advised to

maintain close supervision over the retention
and disposal of specimens, reagents, slides and
others. He must interact with all laboratory
customers courteously and professionally"

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Chapter 3: Background Equipment

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Equipment (End)

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 Chapter 4: Microscope
• The microscope is an essential instrument for the
diagnosis of disease. It is a precision instrument
and requires careful maintenance to prevent
damage to the mechanical and ocular parts and
also to stop fungi from obscuring the lenses.
• The various components of the microscope can
be classified into four systems: support,
magnification, illumination and the adjustment
system.

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 Microscope (2)
• Support system consists of the foot (1),
the limb (2), the revolving nosepiece
(objective changer) (3), the stage (4),
the mechanical stage (5), which gives a
slow controlled movement to the
object slide.
• Magnification system consists of a system of
lenses. which are mounted in two groups, one at
each end of the long tube — the body tube.

• Illumination system includes the Light source

the mirror, the condenser, the diaphragme and
filters.
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 Microscope (3)

• Adjustment system consists of a coarse

adjustment screw, a fine adjustment screw,
a condenser adjustment screw, condenser
centring screws, an iris diaphragm lever and
mechanical stage controls.

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Microscope (End)

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Chapter 5: The laboratory procedures

Any laboratory requisition should include some

items, such as the full name of the patient, his
location, his identification number, this sex and
age, the name of the physician, the name of the
test and the source, possible diagnosis, the date
and time the test is to be done and special
notation.

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 The laboratory procedures (2)

This tends to dilute the blood. There is a shift of

fluids to the interstitial spaces upon standing or
ambulation. The lab tests that are the most
affected by this phenomenon are proteins
(enzymes, albumin, and globulins) and protein-
bound substances such as triglycerides,
cholesterol, calcium, and iron.

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 The laboratory procedures (End)
For example, ALT (alanine aminotransferase) has
been known to increase up to 14% when the
patient goes from supine to the erect position.

Patients who are having any of these above tests

performed, should be told to avoid prolonged
standing prior to the venipuncture. It takes
about 20 to 30 minutes to equalize fluid shifts
due to changes in position.

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 Food Restrictions
• There is usually no special diet requirement for
most "routine" lab tests or procedures. However,
each nurse should be aware of tests that do
require special food restrictions. Some tests
require fasting prior to the test. Be sure you
inform your patient verbally and in writing. Be
sure that the staff is informed of any food
restrictions. It is no secret that many tests and
procedures had to be canceled at the last minute
because the patient ate some food.
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 Food Restrictions (end)
• Be sure to mark the patient's chart, diet list,
and put signs in their room. Many hospitals
have a specific procedure to follow for NPO.
Be sure to follow this procedure and follow-up
on keeping them NPO, if required for testing
or for the procedure.
• Also remember that some tests/procedures
might require that the patient consume a light
meal, a liquid meal, or other special diet.

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 Drug Considerations

Today, many pharmacologic agents are being used

to treat disease conditions and for prophylaxis.
The nurse must be aware and informed concerning
interactions of these drugs and their effects on lab
tests and diagnostic tests. For example, some oral
contraceptives increase the values of iron,
transferrin, triglycerides, and ceruloplasm.

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 Drug Considerations (end)
Drugs toxic to the liver or kidney, could cause an
increase in organ function tests (liver function
tests, etc.) There are so many drugs in use today,
you must have a reference available to use when
your patient is going to be given a sensitive test
or diagnostic procedure.

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 Patient Posture:
• The patient's posture can affect lab values obtained
from certain tests. There have been differences noted
in lab values in patients who have been in a recumbent
or supine position as opposed to those who have been
standing or ambulatory for long periods of time. The
difference in these lab values have been attributed to
shifts in body fluids. Fluids tend to stay in the vascular
compartment (bloodstream) when the patient is
recumbent or supine.

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 Chapter 6: Urinalysis
• A urinalysis is a simple test that looks at a small sample
of your urine. It can help find conditions that may need
treatment, including infections or kidney problems. It
can also help find serious diseases in the early stages,
like chronic kidney disease, diabetes, or liver disease. A
urinalysis is also called a “urine test.”
• Everyone can have a simple urine test. Ask your
healthcare provider about having one. A urine test is
very important if you are at risk for kidney problems,
diabetes, or other health conditions. Finding a health
problem is the first step toward making it better.
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 Urinalysis (2)

• The Urine test can be done by asking the patient

to pee into a clean cup called a “specimen cup.”
Only a small amount of your urine is needed
(about 2 tablespoons) to do the test. Some of the
urine is tested right away with a dipstick — a
thin, plastic strip that is placed in the urine. The
rest is examined under a microscope.

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 Urinalysis (3)
A urine test has three parts: visual exam, dipstick
test and microscopic exam.
• Visual exam: the urine will be looked at for color
and clearness. Blood may make urine look red or
the color of tea or cola. An infection may make
urine look cloudy. Foamy urine can be a sign of
kidney problems.
• Dipstick test : a dipstick is a thin, plastic stick with
strips of chemicals on it. It is dipped into the
urine. The strips change color if a substance is
present at a level that is above the normal range.
A dipstick checks for the Acidity (pH), Protein,
Glucose (sugar), Bilirubin or blood. 22
 Urinalysis (4)
• Microscopic exam: a small amount of urine
will be looked at under a microscope. Some of
the things that may be seen include: Red
blood cells, Casts and Crystals
• A urine test can be done right in your
healthcare provider’s office. The test takes
only a few minutes to do or the lab can
provide results for routine testing within one
to two days.

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 Chapter 7: Blood Test
The amount of the sample needed depends upon
many factors. Each lab is different in the amount
of blood or other body fluid or tissue required to
perform the analysis. Generally speaking, if the
blood is run using modern automated analyzers,
the amount of blood may be 10 ml or less for
each test. If the tests are run individually, or if
the tests are complicated, larger quantities of
blood may be needed.

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 Blood test (2)
• The quantity of the sample usually dictates the method of
collection or collection procedure. The overall goal is to
get the required amount of blood with only one
venipuncture. Multiple venipunctures are avoided if
possible, even when gathering large amounts of blood. A
single glass or disposable plastic needle and syringe may
be used to obtain a small sample of 10-20 ml of whole
blood. This amount is usually sufficient to perform one or
two tests. However, for a series of tests, more blood is
needed. In order to avoid multiple venipunctures, it is
usually best to use an evacuated blood tube system such
as the "Vacutainer" or "Corvac" collection systems.
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 Chapter 8: Abbreviations
ICU Intensive care unit
LFT Liver function tests
MRSA Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus
aureus
PAP Papanicolau
PT Prothrombin time
PTH Parathyroid hormone
PTT Partial thromboplastin time
RBC Red blood cell
T4 Thyroxine
T3 Triiodothyronine
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 ABBREVIATIONS
TB Tuberculosis
TIBC Total iron binding capacity
TSH Thyroid stimulating hormone
WBC White blood cell
HGB Hemoglobin
HPV Human papilloma virus
HIV Human immunodeficiency virus
HCV Hepatitis C virus
HBV Hepatitis B virus
HDL High density lipoprotein
HCT Hematocrit
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 ABBREVIATIONS
HAV Hepatitis A virus
ESR Erythrocyte sedimentation rate
CSF Cerebrospinal fluid
CRP C-reactive protein
DX Diagnosis
CBC Complete blood count
CA-125 Cancer antigen 125
BUN Blood urea nitrogen
BP Blood pressure
AST Aspartate aminotransferase
ALT Alanine aminotransferase
ALP Alkaline phosphatase
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AIDS Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
 Quizzes
1. Draw a microscope and show different parts
of it.

2. Define the following terms:

a. Dipstick test
b. Urinalysis

3. What does a lab technician mean to you?

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