If a phlebotomist corrected you on order of draw, what would you do?

Register Today!

  1. This is a discussion on If a phlebotomist corrected you on order of draw, what would you do? in Nurse Colleague / Patient Relations, part of General Nursing ... I currently work as a phlebotomist before entering nursing school. Today, a nurse tried to correct...

    by Oct 8, '12
    I currently work as a phlebotomist before entering nursing school. Today, a nurse tried to correct me on my order of draw (she thought I should draw a blood culture last). When I corrected her and tried to explain how she was wrong, she berated me. I told her that I could fetch the lab manual, but she still would not listen.

    My question is, would you as a nurse interfere with a phlebotomist's blood draw? If you were wrong and were corrected by the phlebotomist, how would you react?
    Read Online


    Print and share with friends and family.
    Compliments of allnurses.com.
    http://allnurses.com/showthread.php?t=791106

    by pyriticsilence Oct 8, '12 11:31 pm
    ©2013 allnurses.com INC. All Rights Reserved.
    SopranoKris and AntoinetteLatisha like this.
  2. 6,999 Views
    Click Tags to Find Similar Topics

  3. 46 Comments so far...

  4. Oct 8, '12 by
    I don't know squat about that sort of thing, so I would never presume to tell the phlebotomist how to do his/her job. Were I the phlebotomist, I'd tell the nurse to step off and stick to his or her job and leave me to mine.
    orthonurse55, Crux1024, nkochrn, and 13 others like this.
  5. Oct 9, '12 by
    Quote from BlueDevil,DNP
    I don't know squat about that sort of thing, so I would never presume to tell the phlebotomist how to do his/her job. Were I the phlebotomist, I'd tell the nurse to step off and stick to his or her job and leave me to mine.
    I was actually floored that this woman wanted to tell me how to do it. I offered to get the lab manual from the lab, and she didn't want it. If I come across anything like it ever again, I will tell the nurse that she can do my job AND put her full name on any erroneous work. I may not get paid much, but I do get paid to avoid collection and laboratory errors.
    RNnLTC, DogWmn, Crux1024, and 6 others like this.
  6. Oct 9, '12 by
    I remember paying attention to the order of the draw for about 2 weeks when I first started my job.
    Nurserton, ChristaRN, barbyann, and 4 others like this.
  7. Oct 9, '12 by
    I do remember cultures go first though.
    Nurserton, nuangel1, and anotherone like this.
  8. Oct 9, '12 by
    I'm with Blue Devil. The only blood I draw is through PICCs or ports. I've done one other regular draw in my life, so I would never tell a phleb how to do his or her job. Likewise, I would expect the same respect.
    JenRN30, tewdles, MoopleRN, and 1 other like this.
  9. Oct 9, '12 by
    Who has time to argue with phlebotomists?
    Not_A_Hat_Person, Nurserton, Candyn, and 20 others like this.
  10. Oct 9, '12 by
    Just FYI - I'd still give Missy Know-It-All a copy of the lab policy just to show her. She needs to come down a peg or two.

    Another thing, might be to ask Infection Control ot explain the logic involved. I never thought about it (never had to do cultures) but I can reason out the whys of doing the cultures first.
    Nurserton, DogWmn, DawnJ, and 1 other like this.
  11. Oct 9, '12 by
    I don't think I would question a phlebotomist. I have never noticed or thought about the order that labs were drawn in. I actually just looked it up because I was never taught that there is a certain order. Sure enough there is. For the few years that I have been a nurse I usually draw my cultures last just to get the small tubes out of the way. You learn something new everyday.
    pyriticsilence and loriangel14 like this.
  12. Oct 9, '12 by
    I, too, only draw from PICCs so you don't do cultures from them. I do try to prioritorize the tubes just in case of problems, but I'll need to check out the book for future reference.

    Thanks to OP for a thought provoking thread - always something new to learn as RNewbie coments.
    DSkelton711 likes this.