[nasaodds]

I have finished my CNA program and will be starting LPN program in either August or Janurary. I want to be as well rounded financally as possible. Would it be worth it to add phlebotomy or EMT traing to my skills or not?

[RealNurseWitch]

I am really inclined to say no. For one thing, there are so many different opportunities out there for nurses, both LPN and RN, so much job security... you don't really need all of that extra training to have financial/job security, you know?

I mean, if you have the time, and just want to learn those things for fun... or if you want to work part time as an LPN and also part time somewhere else as an EMT... if you want to be a medical "jack of all trades" if you will... sure, why not? I just don't think it's necessary or particularly practical.

[nasaodds]

I figured that would be the case. I will probably not get into the fall LPN class and will have to wait until Janurary to start. I don't want to get training and not be able to use all the training. Such as, cna and phlebotomy I guess they really don't coinside with each other. It would not help with getting any better of a job is what I am getting at.

[fifi rockefeller]

I am a certified phlebotomist through Meddtexx. I renewed my certification for, I think, $45.00 when I had been certified for a year and was about to expire. Know this - I never stuck anybody! Yet, on paper, I am most certainly certified and have the documentation to prove it.
I am a nursing student, and thought being a cert. phleb. would improve my hire-ability (is that a word?) if I couldn't get a PCA job. Catch 22 - they (LabOne, and another place that begins with a Q that I can't remember the name of offhand) won't hire you unless you have experience, and you can't get the experience unless you get the job. But Meddtexx certainly has my money. They provide an 8 hour training class & you stick your partner twice. You are then considered certified. If you get a job somewhere where they want you to get the training, please say yes; otherwise, *in my opinion* this is really something you don't specifically need. I put it on my resume; I don't think it tips the scales for me.

[nasaodds]

How is t that they can they give you a cert. in one day when other classes are much longer than a day?

[fifi rockefeller]

This is not an advertisement for Medtexx Medical Corporation, phone number 1-800-844-2921, e-mail info@medtexx.com.
This is a response to the question from nasaodds.
The class is 8 hours; you read their book, practice a little, & they mail you a certificate. Getting your sticks is up to you. In Cincinnati, there *used* to be a few vocational programs (through Great Oaks? if I am remembering correctly - might be wrong) that provided a several month long program, but that was because it was a co-op. (They got their sticks!) I stuck people in my role transition, and I still want to do IV therapy. (I'm *older* and my knees won't hold out forever!)
If you still decide you want to be a phlebotomist, best of luck to you! At St. Luke West (KY) I saw "20-somethings" that would go around on the floors drawing blood; that was their job. They had T-shirts and everything. From the outside looking in, it looked like a fun, relaxed job. If the patient was really impossible, I presume they had a doctor insert a PICC line.