Phlebotomy Certificate?

I'm a pre-nursing student who has finished most of my prereq's and i thought phlebotomy would be useful. I took it last quarter and our clinicals are this next quarter. I really like it. After awhile as a nurse I'd get it, but I didn't want to be the nurse who can't do an IV. lol It's really raised my confidence! I also wanted training so I could find a job. It all depends on how much you're willing to spend on classes that aren't required.

I took my CNA course in high school and work in a hosptial in Med-Surg right now, and I like it a lot. I'm starting nursing school in January, and I've been told that it would help me a lot with nursing school cause I'd already be used to being in a hospital. I feel just like you. I just took a phlebotomy course (not completely done yet though, just have clinicals left to do!) to help me feel more comfortable sticking people in nursing school. I was told that phlebotomy is different from starting IVs, but the general knoweledge could only help you. If you have the time to do this course, I think it wouldn't be a bad idea, but I don't believe it's essential. Another reason I took a phlebotomy course was as a plan B in case I didn't get into nursing school right away. The decision is up to you though. Good luck! I also consulted with a professor in the nursing dpartment at my university about the idea, so that is something you could do also. It didn't help me get into nursing school because I wasn't done with it when I applied (it would have if I was done though, cause it's a certificate), but the CNA course and direct patient care that I do got me some extra points on my application. Good luck!

Thanks for your reply.

What is a Med-Surg? I keep hearing people say stuff about that on here...

what is a med-surg?

med surg = medical-surgical, a nursing speciality.

these patients are the hospital's "least ill" inpatients. their diagnoses run the gamut from appendectomies to pneumonia (hence "medical" and "surgical.")

nurses and techs on these floors tend to have the most patients because their patients are (supposedly, anyway) the most stable.

if a patient becomes less stable, he or she will probably be moved to a step-down or intermediate care unit with a lower nurse:patient ratio, or even a critical or intensive care unit, which usually has one or two patients per nurse.

women having babies aren't medsurg, cancer patients usually are not, either...and a lot of specialized departments within "medsurg" exist, however. at my old hospital we had a floor just for patients with scheduled joint replacements and a department for elderly patients with acute conditions, but everything else came to one of the medsurg floors (my floor took all of the surgical cases, though...we split the medical). any patient that required chemo was sent to our "big momma" campus in the suburbs. pregnant patients...the same deal.

*~jess~*