Discussion Board for Phlebotomists?

gwenith, BSN, RN · Oct 12, 2003

Try a search on this site we have covered just about every topic imaginable and a few you couldn't imagine!! :eek:

The only other advice would be to check up the websites for the manufacturers of vaccutainers

EyesForward · Oct 12, 2003

Good idea, it doesn't hurt to search through old discussions to see what I come up with first, huh? :)

mother/babyRN, RN · Oct 12, 2003

That sounds like a great idea, especially these days when many hospitals are attempting to save even more money by making the nurses take on that role, with hardly as much training as a phlebotomist would get...I was just thrown in there...I know I would really like to read any sort of discussions you might have and glean your knowledge, and I am an experienced RN...

Jen2 · Oct 13, 2003

I'm a nursing student and a phlebotomist. The only discussion site that I ever found was Phlebotomy West, but it's not very good and I don't visit there often. I use butterflies to draw on newborns in my hospital. If I can't find a vein I will do a heal stick and use the little micro-tainers to scoop the blood. Works great for chemistries, but it takes alot of practice to be able to do a CBC without having a clot. Also you cannot do a blood culture via heal stick. If I'm just doing a bilirubin and H&H I do a heal stick, but if there is a blood culture involved I do a venipuncture. I try to make it as less invasive as possible for the little ones. Hope this helps.

EyesForward · Oct 13, 2003

Jen,

That does help. I was wondering if, when you use the butterfly on a baby, you collect the blood in syringe, and then pour it into the containers? Thanks,

SuperNurse2B · Oct 13, 2003

I agree that butterflies work great on little ones. If I want to collect a small volume, I'll use a syringe and then divide the volume among the needed tubes. Just be careful that you do not pull too hard on the syringe or you can hemolyse the specimen and cause erroneous results in blood chemistries.

Another option, depending on the size of the child and the vein, is to use the butterfly with a leur adaptor so you can attach it directly to vacutainer system. There are small volume (2 or 3 ml draw) tubes that can be used.

One tip for pediatric patients: If you have a choice for time of draw, (Example: a transplant child for routine followup), do the draw at night. I have a neice who had a liver transplant at age 6 months. Her med levels have to be drawn just before the next dose. We draw them at night, before her evening dose of meds. The draws go so much easier! (If you think about it, it makes sense. When she gets up in the morning, she is probably a little dehydrated because she has not had anything to drink all night. On blood draw days, we encourage her to drink, leaving her veins nice and plump for the draw.) It really does make a difference!!

EyesForward · Oct 13, 2003

Very cool. I knew there must be small vacutainer tubes you can use with the vacutainer system and a butterfly. The vacuum must be adjusted in the tiny tubes,so the blood does not hemolyze, as you're saying can happen if you pull too hard on the syringe. I need to look into the leur adapter, which I've not seen. I've already gotten so many great ideas on this BB, and also have found no other for phlebs specifically. Thanks!