Blood samples drawn from IV catheters have less hemolysis when 5-mL (vs 10-mL) collection tubes are used.

Introduction: It is common practice for emergency nurses to draw blood for laboratory analyses into vacuum tubes from newly inserted intravenous (IV) catheters, even though this technique has been associated with an increase in sample hemolysis. No clinical nursing studies have documented the effect of collection tube size on hemolysis of samples obtained via IV catheters.

Objective: To determine whether there is a difference in the hemolysis rate of blood samples drawn from IV catheters comparing 5-mL vacuum collection tubes to 10 mL vacuum collection tubes.