The home care services carry out extensive laboratory activity.

Background: Little is known within the health service about the types of laboratory services that are performed for the roughly 145 000 Norwegian users of the home care services who receive home-based nursing care. Purpose: To compile an overview of the laboratory activity carried out in the home care services in Nordland, Sogn og Fjordane and Østfold counties. Method: Data was collected on laboratory activity in the home care services by sending out a web-based survey to 165 home care services units and 220 GP surgeries in the three counties in 2014. The response rate was 89 per cent and 84 per cent, respectively. Results: A total of 95 per cent of the units perform laboratory services. Of these, 99 per cent analyse capillary samples, 96 per cent perform urine strip tests, and 89 per cent perform venous sampling. Of those units that take capillary samples, 99 per cent analyse glucose, 56 per cent C-reactive protein (CRP), 46 per cent haemoglobin, and 32 per cent analyse prothrombin time/international normalised ratio (PT/INR). It is the GPs who usually order venous sampling and capillary INR, glucose and haemoglobin, while the home care services often order urine strip tests and CRP tests. The GP surgeries think that they order a higher percentage of CRP tests than they actually do. Conclusion: The home care services units conduct extensive laboratory activity with an analysis repertoire rather similar to that of nursing homes. Given the wide range of laboratory services performed by the home care services and the large number of employees involved in these activities, it is crucial to have quality assurance systems in combination with adequate professional expertise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]