Terrified of drawing blood

[anxious student]

I totally need some help. I am a pre-nursing student. I went to school for medical assisting 3 years ago and I passed the curriculum but I did a terrible job with drawing blood. I never used the clinical side to get a job I used the administrative side. I am now 3 classes away from applying to the RN program but I am afraid of drawing blood still. I can deal with blood and any other gross stuff, but I am afraid of actually sticking the needle in to far or missing the vein. Is there any hope?

[santhony44, MSN, RN, NP]

do not let this interfere with your nursing education!

back in the dark ages when i went to nursing school we didn't learn to draw blood nor start iv's. (ojt, later). we did learn to do injections. it was one of the hardest things i've ever had to do. i did not want to stick a needle into someone! i did learn to do it.

if you do learn this in nursing school, it will be a very very small, minuscule, part of what you'll learn and do. tiny, just tiny, and not that important. there are many much more important things you'll learn, so stop worrying about this one, right now!! it is soooo much more important to learn to take accurate vital signs, to do a good assessment of your patient, to give meds correctly, to understand what's going on with your patient and to know what to do about it; there are lots of technical skills to learn, too, and you are capable of doing all of them.

one more thing: i'd guess that you didn't have a very good instructor teaching you the blood drawing or you'd have learned that better in the first place.

so, take blood draws off your list of things to be anxious about, and good luck in school!

[AtomicWoman]

Don't sweat it. It will most likely be just a tiny part of your job. (actually, most of the nurses I know haven't drawn blood in years. The techs and phlebotomists do it.) You'll get better with practice. Practice on people like me, who have what is known as Old Faithful for a vein in my arm. Big, bulging and always ready to squirt. :) Then you'll have more confidence when you do other people's blood draws.

Definitely don't let this ruin your dream of becoming a nurse! You can do it! You'll get better with practice! Rah, rah, rah! :anpom:

[Cupcake619]

I drew blood in a lab for 2 years. I stuck almost 60 people a day. It took 5 people for me to get over the jitters

[CrufflerJJ, BSN, RN, EMT-P]

As with many things in nursing (injections, IVs, Foley catheters,...) remember:

It's always better to give than receive!

[HeartsOpenWide, RN]

I was a medical assistant too, but l loved drawing blood. I was suprised that we were not taught this, but most hospitals have lab techs and phelbotomists. Your blood drawing techniques will come in handy though when they teach I.V. starts...its less blood too, just a flash!

[anxious student]

Thank you everybody. Sometimes we need that extra encouragement to push us. I love this site.