Phlebotomy question for ER nurses

iluvivt, BSN, RN · Mar 6, 2009

I do a lot of Phlebotomy as an IV nurse....if they can not get a draw...they call me. This is how Phlebotomist work in the hospital setting( usually). They are employed by the hospital and work under the lab....there are usually several scheduled during each shift...sometimes there are more in the early hours as am blood draws start early (0400) so MDs can have their results ready for am rounds. They serve all areas of the hospital...including the ED. In certain areas and in certain circumstances nurses also perform blood sampling. Nurses draw from art lines and central and PICCs and in fast paced areas like the ED and pre-surgical areas. They are often called for the more difficult sticks. They are fabulous and very much appreciated.

studenter1988 · Mar 6, 2009

Thank you for the reply! I was curious because I would love to work in the hospital setting as opposed to a lab.

iluvivt, BSN, RN · Mar 6, 2009

you are welcome!!!!:wink2:

ERNurse0417 · Mar 6, 2009

I am both an ER nurse and a SICU nurse, and unfortunately I don't deal much with phlebotomist, but in the other areas of the hospital they are a god send. If you want to work in the er have you thought about a CNA?

Good Luck,

FERN-tastic · Mar 6, 2009

We have a phlebotomist in our ED at all times. They do blood draws in triage, cover blood draws in trauma, and cover any difficult sticks/art sticks/or draws we don't have time to get. We keep them pretty busy.

MelissaPhoographerRN · Mar 6, 2009

In our ER we draw our own blood and start our own IVs. The nurse techs also draw blood. If we can't get an IV we call the IV team. If we have a line, but can't get blood we call the lab who sends a phlebotomist, but that is all they do, there are only a couple of them in the entire hospital that go do hard sticks.

In the other two hospitals that I worked at the nurses did not draw blood unless the pt had a PICC or central line. The had tons of phlebotomists. Every hospital is probably different in how they do it.

You may also check Dr's offices and clinics and such. I spent a day over at a clinic by our hospital drawing blood with the phlebotomists there just getting used to the needles and equipment the hospital used. My Dr's office also has a phlebotomist that draws blood there. Good luck!

studenter1988 · Mar 6, 2009

Thanks everyone! I'm going to look into the hospitals here and see if I can see what the role is. I know it varies every where. ERNurse - I have thought about CNA. There's a course at the same place I'm doing Phlebotomy, it's a little longer but there would still be time to do it before the fall semester. However, the way it's listed is simply Nursing Assistant (but I guess after taking it you would be eligible to be certfied?) It also seems specific on Long Term Care, so I wasn't certain if that would matter or not.

Thanks again.

Jenifer819 · Mar 7, 2009

Hi! I work in the Peds ED in NM and we don't use phlebotomists. We do the IV starts (usually on everyone) and get blood at the same time from cannula. So....no phlebotomists where I work. I did work at Texas Children's in Houston and they had phlebotomists do some blood draws. RN's did labs, too, but sometimes we needed Gent peak and troughs, etc. at a specific time, so lab came to draw.

hope this helps...

llltapp · Mar 7, 2009

I have always had to do my own IV starts and phlebotomy. However, if pt is an admitted "hold" patient, SOMETIMES you can get the phleb up to draw. Last ER I worked, a couple of really great phlebs would help draw if we got a line and couldn't draw labs from it and we were getting SLAMMED. :)

Bandaide, ADN · Mar 7, 2009

I am a pre-nursing student who is currently working as a phlebotomist in a hospital. Our phlebotomy service has about 20 phlebotomists who work morning draw (8-12 each day) and some of those continue their day in the Outpatient Blood Draw clinic. We don't draw patients in the ER or the ICU. Scheduled rounds are at 5:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.. The Outpatient clinic is open M-F 6:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m., with another phlebotomist on duty for evening draw and after-hours draw down in the lab until midnight. There are lots of shifts available, but new hires will be doing a.m. and weekend draw for quite awhile until they gain enough seniority to get other shifts.

We see all kinds of inpatients from new moms and babies to organ transplant and chemo patients. Since we each work all of the floors, we see a wide variety of patients. We are included as part of the health care team and work with the nurses to get the specimens necessary for the patient's care. Nurses teach us and we teach nurses (and med students - we give them just enough experience with phlebotomy to make them dangerous :wink2:)

Expect to be exposed to all kinds of smells and bodily fluids (the first time someone throws up on you while they're being drawn, it kind of breaks your concentration). You will have patients who yell at you, and try to bite or hit you, and patients who expose themselves to you. But you'll also have patients who appreciate the fact that you can get the labs in one stick, not three or four like the clinic at home, who ask you to please come back tomorrow for their draw, and who thank you for explaining what you're doing and why.

One of the most rewarding aspects is seeing patients over time as they climb the transplant list, get an organ, get trasplanted and get their lives back. We see them over the following years as they come in for follow up appointments.

I'm very glad that I filled that hole in my pre-req schedule with phlebotomy class, and I have the chance to work where I do. I don't get to do direct patient care (except when I help the nurses with a task), but I think I have a fair idea of what goes on in the early a.m.

Working as a CNA will go farther on your nursing school application, but working as a phlebotomist has flexible (but early!) hours that can work around a school schedule.

Good luck!