In this blog, we will discuss how to draw blood. Drawing blood means taking blood from a person’s body for medical reasons. Drawing blood is also known as phlebotomy or venipuncture. Blood drawing is an important skill for medical healthcare workers.
How to draw blood?
Here, we will give you a step-by-step guide on how to draw blood professionally.
Materials:
The first step to drawing blood is to collect all the materials needed for the process. It is important to keep everything near you so you do not have to go and grab stuff later. One more important thing is to check the dates of the materials to see if they have expired.
Things you need are:
- Needles
- Gloves
- Alcohol wipes
- Syringe
- Band-Aid
- Tourniquet (device use to apply pressure to and arm)
- Tubes for collecting blood.
- Gauze
- Disposal container for sharp objects like needles
Preparation:
- Wash your hands thoroughly and put on gloves. This step is necessary for drawing blood so you can avoid contamination.
- The second step is to identify the patient by asking their name and date of birth. Make sure that the spelling is correct.
- Before starting the procedure, it is important to explain to the patient what you are about to do. So, if they have any questions or preferences about which arm to use, they can ask.
Select the vein:
- If it is a normal lab draw, ask the person which arm they would prefer.
- Now tie a tourniquet 3,4 inches above the puncture site. This makes it easy for phlebotomists to find the vein and to create pressure.
- Feel the vein and make sure it is firm and bouncy. Look for the vein from which to draw blood. The vein used for drawing blood is a median cubital vein.
- Clean the area where you will be inserting needle with alcohol wipes or swab. This will sanitize the area.
Inserting needle:
- Pull the skin taut below the site where you are inserting the needle.
- Insert the needle in the vein at a 15-to-30-degree angle.
- If you see a flash of blood in the catheter, this means you have successfully inserted the needle in the vein.
- Attach the tubes to draw blood.
Taking out the needle:
- Once you draw blood, release the tourniquet to allow normal blood flow.
- Place the gauze on the puncture site and remove the needle.
- Now apply the pressure on site to stop the bleeding and put on a bandage.
After drawing blood:
- After drawing blood, immediately dispose of the sharp objects such as needle
- Make sure all the blood tubes are properly labeled with the correct information of the patient.
- The next step is to make sure that the patient is feeling well.
- Remove the gloves and wash your hands thoroughly.
What are the 3 main veins to draw blood?
Phlebotomists use three main veins to draw blood. These veins are:
- Median cubital: it is located between muscles and is commonly used because it is easy to puncture.
- Basilic vein: this vein starts at the wrist and then branches off into other veins.
- Cephalic vein: this vein starts at the wrist and goes up to the upper forearm.
Most used is the median cubital, located antecubital fossa. But the other two are also used by phlebotomists.
What areas should you avoid puncturing while drawing labs?
To ensure patient safety, these areas should be avoided while drawing blood to minimize complications.
- Skin with rashes, burns or infections.
- Swollen areas.
- Scarred or sclerosed veins.
- A patient who had a mastectomy.
- Areas near IV sites or arterial veins.
- Areas with tattoos.
- Bones and joints.
- Areas with fistulas or grafts.
- Arm with the current blood clot.
WHO guidelines on how to draw blood professionally?
WHO (World Health Organization on how to draw labs has the following steps to follow:
- To draw blood, it is important to plan ahead.
- Choose the proper location.
- Quality control
The main purpose of drawing blood professionally is to promote patient safety and reduce the risk of infection. If you follow the proper protocol, you can get accurate results due to collecting great blood samples. It is also important to protect the healthcare workers from needle prick or any kind of injury. Nurses drawing blood make sure that the procedure is less painful to improve patient experience.
What is an AC blood draw?
AC means antecubital region, also known as inner elbow, which is a common site for nurses or phlebotomists to draw blood.it is a large vein near the skin surface and is easy to puncture while drawing blood for labs.
What is the blood draw angle?
The proper angle to draw blood professionally is 15 to 30 degrees or less. It also depends on the depth of the vein.
Tips on how to draw blood professionally.
It is important for phlebotomists or nurses to follow these tips to draw blood professionally with success.
- Patient identification.
- The position of the patient.
- Choosing the proper and correct vein.
- Hand hygiene and collecting proper equipment beforehand.
- Ensure patients safety and comfort.
- Disinfecting the site and choosing the right angle (15-30 degrees) to draw blood.
- Proper labeling of the tubes, observing patients after the procedure and right documentation.
Conclusion:
Phlebotomy is the process of drawing blood to diagnose diseases. Nurses and phlebotomists use this process of phlebotomy to collect blood samples from the patients. But to ensure an accurate, safe, and effective process it is important to follow these steps on how to draw blood professionally. With the help of these tips and constant practice, you can become professional in drawing blood.
