tips to keep patients from passing out durumg blood draws?

[LPNtoRNin2016OH, LPN]

Just wanting some tips on blood draws and patients who tend to pass out with it. I often do wellness draws on site for my job, the patients are fasting. I've only had 3 patients pass out but its happening enough that I'm hoping there are some tricks of the trade to prevent it from happening since most sites do not have anywhere for my patients to lay down which I would do right off the bat if they told me they have a tendency to do that if in the clinic.

I had a patient that had a vasovagal response and since I had no where to lay her down I was holding this poor woman down in the chair the whole time until I got her to come around enough to sip some OJ. This is obviously not safe for the patient because if she had not been tiny it would have been difficult to keep her from sliding out of the chair. I brought up to management about buying a portable cot for these issues but no cot as of yet.

Any suggestions or tips I could do to avoid this with the limited resources? Its making me a bit weary of these onsite draws.

Excuse the wonkily spelled title, phone won't let me fix it.

[3wishes, MSN, APRN, NP]

I used the technique in this article when giving vax. Worked when needed. Had 2 pt near syncope before I started using this. Had to slide them to the floor and raise their feet. They were fine. Management of Vasovagal Syncope

Can they have water? Are they dehydrating themselves? When working in a Parkinson's clinic, a neurologist told me to give pts with low BP a glass of water as it would raise the SBP about 10. See Plain water has surprising impact on blood pressure (07/8/10)

Good luck!

[CrunchRN, ADN, RN]

Get a phlebotomy chair. Make it relaxing as possible. Remove the needle as soon as they say "it's hot in here". Apply an ice pack to the back of the neck. Do not take BP for at least 10 minutes or you will faint :)

[brownbook]

Since you do wellness draws on site I'm assuming that means you go to different offices, industrial buildings, facilities, etc., and do the draws there?

Maybe you could convince management to reimburse you, or pay you up front, if you brought a light weight, folding patio lounge chair? They shouldn't be too expensive? Hopefully it wouldn't be to cumbersome to fit in where you do the draws?

[kimmie4476, ASN, RN]

If I have someone who tells me they are feeling faint, or that they normally faint with blood draws, the first thing I do is whip out an alcohol pad and stick it under their nose and tell them to take slow deep breaths. This also helps wake them up if they do faint.

[anchorRN, BSN, MSN, RN, APRN]

Here on the ship we tape an ammonia inhalant stick right to the chair lol

[vampiregirl, BSN, RN]

As far as the nervous patients or the ones that talk themselves into a reaction, there are a few tricks I've had success with:) For these patients, I either get them talking about a subject they enjoy or get them engaged in conversation. Another trick I've used it to give them an "important" task to divert their attention (holding a gauze pad or a similar assignment).

It goes along way if the phlebotomist is professional, relaxed and pleasant too... even if their veins are hiding.

[LeChien, BSN, RN]

Ice pack on the back of the neck

[summerly]

I try to keep patients actively engaged in conversation and eyes off what I'm doing. If they are really freaking out I'll tell them to close their eyes, take slow deep breaths in through their nose, out through their mouth and visualize themselves on the beach with waves and seagulls ... Etc.