A national survey of interventions and practices in the prevention of blood culture contamination and associated adverse health care events

The scientific literature indicates that blood culture contamination often leads to inappropriate antimicrobial treatment, adverse patient occurrences, and potential reporting of false-positive central line-associated bloodstream infections. The findings of a national infection prevention survey of blood culture practices and related interventions in hospitals support the need for infection preventionists to expand their participation in the review of topics related to the ordering and collection of blood for culture.