Before mentioning phlebotomy tips, precise steps for drawing blood and getting patients ready to draw blood needs discussing. By following the proper steps, it ensures accurate results, safety to both the patient and medical personnel, and makes for a professional work-place. The steps for drawing blood are as listed below.
• Wear protective gloves and ask the patient for pertinent information, such as full name and full birth date.
• Be prepared. Have tubes ready and tools, such as sterilizing pad, gauze and tube container, nearby. Usually, the median cubital place is the best place to draw blood. It is a vein which lies near the surface and has few nerve endings.
• Use a tourniquet around the upper region of the arm. Keep the arm down. Have the patient hold a fist until the vein bulges. Look for the right angle to insert the needle.
• To lessen pain, insert the needle with a smooth, swift motion. Insert the tube into the holder gently, keeping the needle steady until the tube is filled with the right amount for the specimen.
• Withdraw the needle using the same angle which used in insertion.
• Dispose of the needle in the proper closed container and apply gauze to the wound.
• Record hematomas or unusual bleeding, and recheck the information on the tube and insert the tube upside-down into the tube container.
Although not as rigorous as the steps for drawing blood, there are certain things which the medical phlebotomist can do to make the experience not painful. These include:
• Introduce yourself
• Build a rapport with the patient
• Be confident and self-assured
• Do not discuss illness, prognosis, or release any confidential medical information to the patient
• If more than two pricks are necessary, consult with someone else to do the job
• Keep attention focused on the patient and the job at hand and not the clock on the wall or the ringing cell phone
• Be well-mannered and attentive. A little please and thank-you goes a long way
• Review in your mind, the proper procedures for fainting, excessive bleeding, hematomas, strokes, and heart attacks, allergic reactions, as well as, any other emergency situations which may result from a sudden shock to the system in a chronically ill patient
• If they are continually returning patients, remember their names and any conversations you may have had with them.
There are some tips from medical phlebotomists which are useful. These include:
• Compassion with objectivity is the right balance
• If after two tries at withdrawing blood, please ask someone else
• Drawing blood from the wrist is necessary for ABG’s
• Filling the tube half way with blood, prevents hematomas in a persons’ hand if using a 22 gauge needle
• Do not pump the fist because it causes elevated K. Instead, have the patient make a fist and hold it
• Inaccurate results can result from ‘smacking’ the arm
• Make sure that the size of the tube is compatible with the size of the vein
• To avoid hemoconcentration, the venipuncture area should be cleansed prior to the withdrawing of blood
• A switch to the hand which is holding the barrel (dominant hand) stabilizes the needle.