Most medical laboratory professionals would agree: your job is one of the most important facets of patient care, but you rarely receive the thanks and praise you deserve. For phlebotomists, this is especially true. Many patients dread having their blood taken, and have come to even fear the person who could eventually help them rid illness and improve health.
Phlebotomists can, however, take comfort in knowing that though patients may not send them a delicious basket of goodies and a thank you note, they have directly and positively affected a patient's life through the care they provide.
With every alcohol swab and every discarded needle, phlebotomists are using their unique skill set and precise education to expertly collect samples that will later result in a healthy patient who may never have to roll up their sleeves and bite their lips in the face of a needle again.
Pick a Hat
For phlebotomists, patient care isn't simply sticking and leaving-it begins as soon as a scared patient walks into your room. For most, your duties will include calming a patient, prepping the patient for draw, being aware of any allergic reactions or adverse response at completion, and labeling tubes to ensure accurate testing and results.
"The successful phlebotomist must possess the unique personality that is able to consistently demonstrate professionalism and skill tempered with compassion to a population of individuals who are experiencing pain, fear, anxiety, anger, frustration, depression, or a myriad of each," Donna Kirven, MA, communication specialist, Laboratory Services, John Muir Health, Concord, California said. "It is a unique ability to be able to do this with each and every patient, even though the reward is generally more intrinsic and appreciation is infrequently expressed."
While the challenges of phlebotomy may seem abundant, the rewards are even greater. Lisa M. Steinam PBT (ASCP), school program coordinator, Center for Phlebotomy Education, School of Phlebotomy, Corydon, IN, learned the vital importance of phlebotomists early into her healthcare career.
"While going through phlebotomy training, I gained a new prospective to the vital role lab results play in the outcome of patient care and that I, as a phlebotomist,played a key to their accuracy," she said. "Through phlebotomy, I would be a bigger part of the patient care team."
Education
From her phlebotomy training, Steinam gained an appreciation for education. "I completed a phlebotomy program and received my national phlebotomy technician certification through the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP)," Steinam said. "From that day forward, I made it my personal goal to always adhere to the standards set by the Clinical Laboratory and Standards Institute (CLSI) for specimen collection and patient safety. I also wanted to make sure others collecting blood specimens knew the impact they had on patient care."
For the next 2 years, Steinam worked as a part-time instructor in the lab for a phlebotomy program, where she also mentored other units when not in the lab. "In 2002, I was offered a full-time phlebotomy instructor position at Central DuPage Hospital (CDH) in Winfield, Illinois. CDH was one of the first labs in the nation to decentralize phlebotomy duties to PCTs and unit RNs in the early 1990s, she said. "This required a strong, structured phlebotomy training program and keeping on top of the changing standards set by CLSI."
Striving to meet and exceed those standards, Steinam quickly moved to a supervisory position, working in Quality Improvement for blood specimen collections. There, she worked with the unit managers to reduce misidentified specimens, contaminated blood cultures and all other pre-analytical areas that needed improvement.
"I worked my way up to Lab Service Educator/ QA Associate," she said. "I was also part-time faculty at College of DuPage teaching the 'hands on' portion of phlebotomy from 2003-2010." Now, Steinam works as the School Program Director at the Center for Phlebotomy Education, School of Phlebotomy in Corydon, IN.
Though Steinam wasn't always sure where exactly she would end up, she was certain that she wanted to impact other phlebotomists. "I knew I wanted to make others aware of how important it was to follow proper specimen collection," she said. "So many things can go wrong during the collection process and the patient is the one who will suffer if the phlebotomist is not properly educated about patient identification, hemoconcentration, order of draw, hemolysis and the endless list of pre analytical errors."
Steinam takes the education of other professionals as a way of indirectly reaching patients. "I want to make all phlebotomists aware of their role to prevent these issues and to be a professional the patient can count on," she said. "The integrity of the specimen is in their hands."
Communication Specialist
For Kirven, the path from phlebotomist to patient advocate and customer care extraordinaire was determined from a young age. "I began working as a student intern in a genetics lab at the age of 14," she said. "I worked there as a lab assistant/lab technician until my freshman year at college." She then moved to California and re-entered the medical field as a certified nursing assistant.
"I was quickly promoted to medical records supervisor, then admissions director of a skilled nursing facility. I became re-certified as a medical lab assistant and phlebotomist and began working for a few public and private laboratories," Kirven said. "I began working at John Muir Health in 1998, where my career advanced from phlebotomist to lead phlebotomist to phlebotomy education coordinator."
During those years, Kirven learned a unique skill for effective communication, patient care and customer service. "In 2010, I was promoted to laboratory services sales and marketing communication specialist. My current position is one that allows me to incorporate my expertise in communications with my desire to conceptualize the most effective ways to help our patients and other customers meet their healthcare needs," Kirven said.
"I had always envisioned that the best way we can serve our customers is to anticipate their practical and personal needs by having the appropriate information and resources ready and available to help them." Now, Kirven can utilize her interpersonal skills and creativity to design and write communications that both engage and inform both internal and external customers, thereby enabling the best patient care to be provided, she said.
Branching Out
The opportunities for employment don't end there. For educated phlebotomists looking for their own unique path to a dream job, the choices are varied, exciting, and plentiful. "Phlebotomy is an entry level position into healthcare," Steinam said. "Most phlebotomists move up into other areas of healthcare quickly, so there always seems to be a need for well-trained phlebotomists."
Trained professionals who do move on to other specialties within the field find the number of pathways to explore is broad. "With continual growth through formal education and experience, phlebotomists can advance to positions as educators, managers, and information technology specialists. These are positions that allow them to continue to work with people, while expanding their service skill set," Kirven said.
For those who do choose phlebotomy, the often underappreciated professionals who take that first step in patient care, rewards may be silent, but are clearly visible. "The successful phlebotomist is motivated predominantly by the desire to help and the challenge of doing so with pure altruism," Kirven said. But the pride you feel when a patient leaves the hospital healthy and smiling is worth all the disgruntled sticks in the world.
Kelly Wolfgang (kwolfgang@advancweb.com) is editorial assistant at ADVANCE.