Where it started
The ancient practice of drawing blood from a patient was crude at the very beginning, since practitioners dating back to the 17th century would use various unsophisticated tools to plant incisions inside the skin. They would ask the patient to grab a certain stick that would dilate the veins in their bodies. The exercise was often performed due to its health benefits. Most of the time, the patient would grow faint after a few pints were drawn from the body. This was done as it was expected that his health would be regained at a faster rate. The blood used to be caught in bowls that were shallow, and the blood was kept alive through heating.
Today
Today, owing to the advancement in technology that is catching on in the health sector, there are better ways of handling phlebotomy. The most common medical procedure used in performing the art is venipuncture. This complicated procedure requires certain precise steps to be undertaken. Actually, the phlebotomist has the right to use the kind of procedure that he or she is well versed in, in order to get the right kind of results. Since it is a sensitive procedure, the practitioner is allowed to practice with the various outlets that he can draw blood from in the human anatomy. When he is comfortable with a certain area, and using a certain routine, he will use it to get the results he desires. The standard procedure is as follows.
- The patient is identified. The phlebotomist checks the patients health records and his history. He checks on diet, stress levels and basal status too.
- The next check-up involves the patients consent for the procedure to be carried out. If there are any special acts that are required for the patient, they are pointed out. The patient information form will help the phlebotomist get an idea of what he is supposed to do.
- Next, the practitioner will select the site he will be using for the venipuncture. Having spotted the site, he goes ahead and prepares his equipment for the procedure, after which he will carefully perform it. While doing this, he will always check on the patient in order to see any anomalies present during the drawing of blood.
- The blood is then assessed. The phlebotomist should be knowledgeable enough to assess whether the collection is good enough, if he has to do a re-collection, or even if the blood sample needs to be totally rejected.
- The collection is promptly labeled and placed where necessary. If needed in another department for testing, he will go ahead and take it for further tests.
Accompanying the specimen is a requisition form. The standard information in this form is the patients name, date and gender. It will also have the physicians name and initials on it. In addition, the source of the specimen must be identified in order to get the right kind of information that assists in fluid analysis, cytology, and other sensitive tests. The date and the time of collection will also need to be indicated.
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