Phlebotomy Training

When blood is needed to be infused or withdrawn, you will find these people. These phlebotomists are the ones responsible for bloodletting and taking samples of your blood for the laboratory to analyze. Their work may seem easy but this requires you great skills in order to be called a Phlebotomist. So if you are interested in becoming one of them, read this article for more information.  

Merriam-Webster defines Phlebotomy as the surgical opening or puncture of a vein in order to withdraw blood or introduce a fluid or (historically) a part of the procedure of letting blood. But what is phlebotomy? How come this word sounds alien to some people? Since this word is not always common to the layman’s ear, let us start defining phlebotomy from the very beginning.

Phlebotomy comes from a Greek word phleb/o which means vein and tom which means to cut or puncture. The suffix y means process so phlebotomy simply means “the process of puncturing veins”. Traditionally, phlebotomy is the ancient practice of bloodletting. This means that back in the old age, this bloodletting involves the withdrawal of blood in large amounts. This was done in an attempt to cure diseases and illness.

Modern medicine eliminated this kind of practice but the term Phlebotomy remained. This procedure is still used for the withdrawal and collection of blood from vein, capillary or artery. These blood samples are then used for laboratory analysis or transfusion. So the term blood specimen collection is performed by the phlebotomist.

Blood specimen collection is an important part of our health care industry today. It has helped in diagnosing and detecting illnesses and diseases. It is used by many doctors, nurses and other health care professionals and has proven to be effective when it comes to finding out diagnosis. So if you are interested to work as a phlebotomist then you need to have training and certification.

If you want to become a phlebotomist, you must be at least a high school graduate and must present a diploma. If you do not have a diploma, you must have any equivalent education to become one. Students must have academic training as well as clinical instructions. They must also pass national certification exams and must know first aid and CPR. For those who are non-graduates, they are required to have full-time experience working as a phlebotomist of at least one year. They must also complete a set number of venipuncture procedures.

Job Description

Phlebotomist are skilled health workers who works with doctors and nurses. They are the people responsible for drawing blood from patients for analysis or transfusion. They collect blood samples, label them and document the specimens. Blood collection and record keeping are among the primary responsibilities of a phlebotomist but they can also have other duties besides these mentioned. Just take note that they do not analyze blood but rather these people are the ones who take the patient’s blood. As a phlebotomist, you are going to work with different kinds of patients. Since many people are not at ease with blood drawn from them, it is the phlebotomist’s job to make their patient’s comfortable. They are also in direct communication with both patients and doctors so you need to have good interpersonal skills as you work with other people in the health care industry. A phlebotomist is sometimes responsible for scheduling appointments, handle phone calls from patient’s to doctors and delivering or picking up the specimens for or from the laboratory.

Training

Students/applicants who are interested in working as a phlebotomist must have the needed training in order to become an expert in bloodletting. Since you will do an invasive procedure to you patients, it is best that you have the right training.

During this training, students will learn how to draw blood without causing too much pain to a patient. Working as a phlebotomist requires a high level of practice and skills. You will also learn how to handle and control biohazardous materials like the blood samples from patients with contagious diseases. With this, you will also learn how to handle sterile unused and used needles.

Besides handling these materials, students must also learn bedside manners such as informing the patient of the procedure you are about to do, what they expect as you perform this process and how long will it take to let blood. Some patients have fear of needles and so it is important that you show your empathy but using your skill at the same time. This part of the training is one of the most critical part of patient care so make sure that you know what is expected of you.

During phlebotomy training, students will be learning about the human anatomy. They will also learn about the different needle technique used when withdrawing blood. They will also learn patient rapport, medical safety and processes as well as keeping record. Students must also have classes and hands-on training on handling medical equipments which includes containers for collecting hazardous wastes and others.

Phlebotomy training can be obtained as a 4 year bachelor’s degree course. It can also be obtained by a 2 year associate’s degree in phlebotomy. There are also vocational schools which offer this kind of program. Some of these trainings are done at community colleges, hospitals or private medical facilities. By training with these facilities, you can acquire your phlebotomy training within a year.

Salary 

Working as a phlebotomist does not necessarily require large amounts of physical activity. After graduating or completing your training, a phlebotomist can get paid at about $10.50 per hour. As the number of years increases, their salary also increases. After five years, a phlebotomist can be paid at $13.00 per hour. Phlebotomists who works in a private health care facility is paid lower than the one who work in a hospital. Those who work in an office setting is paid at about $11.00 while those who work in hospital is paid of at least $14.75 per hour for starters. As they gain experience, they will be paid $17.00 per hour or more. Extra hours can also help but the average pay is $11.00-$15.00. For phlebotomist who has degrees, earning more is possible. Some of them can get paid as much as $19.00 per hour.

The highest earners in this filed belongs to those phlebotomist who teaches at junior colleges. They can earn as much as $45,120 per year by teaching students with various aspects of this job. This is according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Phlebotomist who works in pharmaceutical manufacturers and research can earn around $40,070 while the ones in research are paid at about $42,205.

Phlebotomists are required to work 40 hours, 5 days a week with different working shifts. This job will also require you a lot of walking and standing so make sure you are prepared for that. Average salary of a phlebotomist ranges to $26,710 annually but it may also vary depending on the specific location or state. However, according to the Certified Compensation Professionals’ analysis, an average phlebotomist in the United States is paid at $29,395 as of this year. This survey was taken and collected from thousands of HR departments of different employers in all sizes and industries. Phlebotomists are can also have paid vacations as well as bonuses and holidays. So if you are interested in working as a phlebotomist, then have your training as soon as possible.

Other Jobs

As a phlebotomist, your skills are needed in most health care facilities. May it be a public or privately owned health care facility; your skills will help them. There are many jobs waiting for people in this field. A phlebotomist works along with doctors and nurses upon completion of their phlebotomy training. They can work in various settings such as hospitals, health care clinics, blood donation clinics and many others. They can also work in various areas such as being a dental assistants, medical assistants and even pharmacy aids.

Phlebotomists can also work in a physician’s office. Their job is similar to that in a hospital setting which is also collecting blood and making injections. The only difference is the atmosphere of the job environment since you will be working in an office rather than the hospital. Some physicians prefer to hire a phlebotomist since they are also able to fit in the duties of nurses. That is why there is no way in the world that you can’t have any job after your phlebotomy training. In order to have more job options as a phlebotomist, you must also have advance training. This way the opportunity of work is always available for you. Keep in mind that some hospitals require phlebotomist to have more training so better have advance training for your own good too.

People in the health care field are have the most critical jobs and that is to save lives. Doctors, nurses, psychologists, emergency medical technicians, phlebotomist and many others have one thing in common and that is to give their patients that best care that they can give. That is why training is needed and good skills are required. Without these trainings, they can never deliver the needed care that the patient needs. So if you want to work in this field then make sure that you have what it takes.