Blooddraw Techniques

Since we nurses have to draw bloods at our hospital, the education department offers a course...And, not only to nurses, as our patient care techs also qualify..Since most of us already did ivs and the technique of entry is slightly different, I choose to use an angiocath attached to a vacutainer vs just the needle, and didn't take a phlebotomy course. I do that because the entry into the vein is the same as with an iv..My sister in law took a 6 week phlebotomy course at the local technical high school, which offers that and many other courses (such as EKG tech), at night and during the summer...Good luck..

Mermaid - was this course in Indiana? I can find no quick courses or hospitals that train. If you are a nurse and are hired they will give you a refresher lesson but I am not a nurse. Nurse programs are so crowded here you cannot get into them. There has to be someone besides Ivy Tech in Indiana. My goodness the phlebotomists here don't make big money - why take 2 years for a low paying job? Over 30 credit hours to be a phlebotomist and 2 years of study when other states have 6 week courses?

Hello, I too live in Indiana and I learned how to draw blood when I was an

LPN working in a physician's office. In this office all nurses are trained to draw

blood.

I just did on the job training when I was an LPN. I worked in a prison and we did lab one day a week so I got plenty of practice. They just lined up about 50 guys a day and you just went at it!

I guess I'm wondering why you would want to take a plebotomy course at all.... If you are going to go to nursing school, they'll teach you there. If it's for a job, they usually teach you as part of orientation.

Here, for example, the blood bank techs learn phlebotomy as OJT--no experience necessary really means that!

Good luck!

Maybe the OP is a pre-nursing student who wants to get a job in the field? I had a heck of a hard time getting a clinical job before starting the program. In fact, it was impossible.

OP, check with your local blood bank. My daughter is a graduate of an MA program who is very shaky on her blood draws. She was very up front with them and they would hire her anyway. Said they would train her.

Another option is to check with you local EMS people and see if there is an EMT-Paramedic Instructor available. It may not fill formal education requirements, but, as a Paramedic - I know that venipuncture as well as phlebotomy, IV Start technique, etc., needs to be second nature and the training will be 'on the job'. Your local guidelines and regulations will dictate the availability of this sort of training though...

(I thought venipuncture and phlebotomy were the same thing.....)

They are, aren't they? Maybe just clarifying different names it goes by when looking up classes? As far as I know they are the same thing with venipuncture encompassing both IV starts and phlebotomy..Perhaps the venipuncture differentiation means that both Iv starts and phlebotomy are taught together, which is good since the techniques of approach to a vein are often different...

I guess you're absolutely correct, chris! Thanks for the enlightenment!

Sorry, not in Indiana...East Coast...