While technical skill is important, phlebotomy is made up of many other things. You have to balance the skill with the art. And the art we are talking about is dealing with people. You may have to deal with them when they are experiencing some of the hardest things they will ever face. The hallmark that you are looking for is phlebotomy certification courses that will give you exposure to as many different environments as possible.
First ask about the accreditation of any program you are considering. There are several national boards that either directly license programs, or find a program that adheres to the standards of national organizations. One of the biggest, and arguably the best, is the American Society of Clinical Pathologists. Any program that prepares you for the examinations sponsored by this society would be a very good choice.
The actual technical skill of drawing blood is fairly standardized. Any of the competent programs will teach you basically the same thing. However, classroom experience is only a fraction of what you need. Make sure that a program has a great deal of time set aside for clinical rotations. When you have the experience of walking into a patient room will you really begin to understand the complexity of phlebotomy.
The rotations give you so much more than just time with the patients. This is when you get to hone your social skills. This is where the art comes in. You are going to have to rely on very different talents to draw blood from an infant in a pediatric practice than you would from collecting a sample an emergency room. This is why a good phlebotomy training course will see that you are sent into many different environments. If you are fortunate to have access to a program that participates with a large hospital, join it. This is exactly the experience you want.
For good or bad, healthcare organizations are being driven to cut costs. Health Care professionals are being assigned to different places, depending on the staffing needs of the day. A professional phlebotomist can expect to perform as a generalist.
It is common to be working in pediatrics in the morning, spend a little time in the ER, and end your shift on a regular patient floor. And even if you are working in a doctor’s office, you will be dealing with an entire range of patients. Any one of the good phlebotomy training programs will prepare you for this.
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