Blood Draw

About three summers ago, Nan, Hollie, and myself took a phlebotomy course. It was pretty fun, but I have since lost my awesome skills. So I work for IHC at Legacy OB-GYN and have made some friends in the neighboring clinics, pharmacy, and lab. In the lab I have a friend by the name of Becki. Any of you city softball fans would remember her as our third baseman last summer. Anyway, I was down in the lab chatting with Becki the other day and I was telling her about my blood drawing experience. I related to her that I was pretty scared about being a phlebotomist. She then insisted that I practice on her. I told her I really didn't want to (but slightly in the back of my mind I wanted to see if I could remember how to do it). She won the battle and I proceeded to grab a needle, hub, alcohol pad, vial, cotton ball, gloves, etc. I fastened the tournequette tightly on her arm, sanitized the fleshy area, secured my vein of choice between two fingers, and finally inserted the needle. A small amount of blood traveled through the plastic tubing. I plugged the vial at the end and watched as the blood flowed freely. Victory was mine. So, now I go down to the lab on Monday's, Wednesday's, and Friday's to practice. Last Friday I took a butterfly needle and drew from Becki's hand. I am happy to report that she did not sustain a bruise and you can barely even see a puncture mark. My phlebotomy future is bright.