CLINICAL LAB SCIENEC

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GLOSSARY
Personal protective equipment (PPE) Includes goggles,
masks, face and eye shields, gowns, and gloves
to protect individual workers from contact with
patient blood or body fluid
Personnel licensure Government-sanctioned
certification of an individual, as opposed to a
facility
Petri dish Shallow, cylindrical lidded dish used to
culture cells, primarily bacteria
pH Measure of hydrogen ion concentration of a
solution; pH of 7 is normal, below is acid and
above is alkaline
Physician office laboratory (POL) Testing facility
owned and operated by an individual health care
provider or group practice
Pipette Narrow tube into which fluid is drawn by
suction, many varieties of which are used in the
clinical laboratory to transfer extremely small up
to sizable amounts of liquid; can be made of glass
or plastic, reusable or disposable
Pipette calibration Quality check required
periodically to maintain accurate and consistent
measurement
Pipette filler Alternative to mouth pipetting for filling
pipettes easily
Pipette helper Battery-operated pipette filler designed
to be used with disposable pipettes
Pipette tip Used with pipetter for extremely small
amounts to provide reproducibility and accuracy
with extremely small amounts
Plasma Liquid part of whole blood
Pleural, pericardial, peritoneal, and synovial
fluids fluids from body cavities used as specimens
for testing
Point-of-care testing (POCT) Laboratory testing that
takes place at the patient’s bedside
Polycarbonate Plastic used for laboratory materials;
transparent thermoplastic characterized by high
impact strength and high softening temperature;
most volumetric flasks and disposable pipettes
with built-in bulbs for aspiration of fluids are
composed of polycarbonates
Polycythemia An increase in the proportion of blood
volume that is occupied by red blood cells, due
to an increase in the mass of red blood cells or a
decrease in the volume of plasma
Polyethylene Plastic used for laboratory materials;
lightweight thermoplastic resistant to chemicals
and moisture and with good insulating properties
Polypropylene Plastic used for laboratory materials
Polystyrene Plastic used for laboratory materials;
rigid transparent thermoplastic with good
electrical insulating properties, used especially in
molded products
Polyvinyl chloride Plastic used for laboratory
materials; polymer of vinyl chloride (known as
PVC) used especially for electrical insulation, films,
and pipes
Population norms Normal ranges that account for
ethnic, genetic, and cultural differences, including
lifestyle; may vary slightly between geographic
locations within the same country
Postanalytical error Error that occurs after
testing; usually refers to recording error or data
transmission error
Postzone Phenomenon in which agglutination or
precipitation does not occur in lower dilution or
undiluted samples because of an excess of antigens
relative to antibodies, yielding misleading results
PPD (tuberculin) skin test Positive results indicate
recent exposure or actual infection with M.
tuberculosis; medical facilities require testing of
workers before direct patient contact
Preanalytical error Error that occurs before testing is
performed; often refers to improper sample collection
or misidentification of a specimen or patient
Preceptor Working professional who supervises
students during workplace training
Precision Reproducibility of results when the
conditions of the performance of procedures is the
same; not to be confused with accuracy
Predictive value Rate at which a test result would be
expected for certain disease states
Preferred provider option (PPO) Developed to
encourage the use of assigned physicians and
medical facilities as a way to contain costs
Professionalism Competence and skills expected of
someone in the career field; cleanliness, proper
grooming, and confident manner
Proficiency testing (PT) program Commercial
program that laboratories subscribe to; measures
accuracy by comparing reported values to those
of other facilities doing similar procedures with
similar technology
Prothrombin Plasma protein coagulation factor
synthesized from vitamin K
Prothrombin time (PT) Used to monitor
anticoagulant therapy
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