CAP PT vs Quality Cross Checks

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Whenever there is a quality cross check, I always treat it as if it is a PT. 

When I spoke to my former lab director, she informed me to provide the CAP instructions and quality cross check to the nurse and "zip it", don't talk to them about how to run the samples and to just let them read the document and have them figure it out. I always thought this was extreme in the sense that the nursing staff don't normally go into proficiency mode or even know where the option is and also some of the samples have special preparations/instructions.
I had brought this up to my director and she merely said that they should understand how to read and follow instructions. 

Is this extreme? I'm not saying as the supervisor or technologist to run it yourself but to at least provide them information about how to get to the proficiency mode on the device or if there are special preparations for the sample and then let them run the sample themselves.   

CAP specifically says quality cross checks are not PT but wanted to know how others handle quality cross checks. Do you go to these extremes of being a mute and letting them just figure it out? 

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I always give them instructions.

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This seems very extreme to me. For PT and for quality cross-checks.
I read the directions. For the departments that I know have things handled- I often just highlight the important instructions. 
For departments with enough staff that almost no one ever runs one, I talk them through anything that’s different than running a patient (special mixing directions, different adapters, etc.)

That seems like a rather adversarial stance. We know the goal of the PT is to treat it as closely to analyzing a patient sample as possible. Running our PT samples is often NOTHING like running a patient sample. We're running Prime Plus blood gas analyzers here. The PT directions include "shaking vigorously".  Clearly that is not how someone would treat a patient specimen. 
I can't even get most non-Laboratory personnel to understand what a Proficiency Test is in the first place, so I always help getting into the proper mode, etc.. I don't think "letting them just figure it out" is the spirit of what the CAP intended.
 

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Jo Win
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