How to become a phlebotomist

A phlebotomist is a trained technician whose work is to draw blood for transfusions, tests, platelet and blood donations, and research. They are tasked with drawing the right blood amounts and labeling all the vials for identification. The job further requires a person who is compassionate, can assure the patients who are not comfortable around a needle, good at finding the right veins, and explains what he or she is doing to the patients.

What does a phlebotomist do?

A phlebotomist works in diagnostic and medical laboratories, doctor’s offices and blood donor centers and hospitals. Over 40 percent of these professionals work in the hospital; a quarter works in the laboratories while the rest work at ambulatory and physician offices.

Patients normally walk into the phlebotomist’s office. However, where a single professional is serving more than one doctor, he may come to the patients and draw blood on the go. He or she first looks at the patient chart to ascertain the kind of tests that need to be done. He or she uses the information to determine the amount of blood to be drawn.

Next, the professional draws blood from the patient. He or she labels all the tubes and rechecks them to ensure that they are not contaminated and are marked correctly. He works with equipment which well-assembled, managed and sterilized to avoid spreading infection between patients.

Other duties that are required of the phlebotomist include monitoring glucose tests by the bedside, performing bleeding-times tests by entering the result on the system and resolving unclear or unusual test orders by contacting the relevant medical personnel that ordered the tests. Other tasks include setting up blood tests, collecting, and testing the urine samples.

How do you become a phlebotomist?

Phlebotomy is usually the entry course to other medical careers such as nursing and medicine. To become a phlebotomist, you need to join a vocational or technical college and study phlebotomy. Before joining the college, you must be a high school graduate or a college graduate.

Phlebotomy training usually takes six months and relatively easier to learn than other medical courses. Many nurses start with phlebotomy before climbing the career ladder. Moreover, you must be detail oriented in order to draw blood with care and track the blood specimens through the lab process. You will perfect the process of drawing blood with practice over a given period. People in higher career levels in the medical field learn phlebotomy in the course of their medical training.    

In addition to the core skills, it is required that you have learned about cardio-pulmonary-resuscitation. Some states require a certification of the same. You should also learn the Universal and Standard Precautions as regards blood collection.

What certification is required to become a phlebotomist?  

Some states such as Nevada, California, Louisiana, and Washington require all persons that are not nurses or doctors to obtain certification to draw blood. Where the certification is not required, it is still important to be a certified phlebotomist before seeking a job. The certification tells the respective employers that you have met all the requirements to do an effective job. Being a certified phlebotomist also gets you preference among the health sector employers when looking for a job.

Where do you get certification?

The certifying bodies maintain the high-quality standards of education and experience among the phlebotomists. There are five recognized certifying bodies where you can get certification as a phlebotomist. Here are the names of the organizations

·         National Healthcareer Association

·         American Society for Clinical Pathology

·         National Center for Competency Testing

·         American Society of Phlebotomy Technicians

·         National Phlebotomy Association

Each of the organizations has its certification procedures and minimum qualifications that have to be met. You can find the details of the minimum qualifications and certification procedures in their respective websites.

Phlebotomist certification tests

The certification test measures the competency in a number of fields that affect the profession. Common Among the questions are those that deal with safety and infection control. They include

·         Equipment sterilization

·         How to dispose of such items as syringes properly

·         How to prevent the occurrence of workplace hazards

Moreover, you will be tested in areas that involve the safety of you patients and prevention of infection from one patient to the other. Another important area is the prevention of nerve damage and hematomas.

Do you need a license to become a phlebotomist?

In addition to being certified, some states also require you to have a practicing license. You can get a phlebotomist license from a non-profit certification agency called The American Medical Technologists (AMT).

For you to be eligible for AMT examination, you must have graduated from a program that offers at least 120 didactic clock hours. The US Department of Education must also approve the program. Moreover, you must complete at least 1,040 hours of acceptable work as phlebotomy tech for the three years before applying for the AMT competency test. 

The program that you graduate from must include at least 10 successful skin punctures and 50 successful venipunctures from human sources. In addition, part of the experience should include specimen processing, communication skills, and clerical responsibilities. AMT has an annual renew program where all the licensed phlebotomists pay the annual fee and comply with the Certification Continuation Program. This program usually involves activities such as continuing education.

As not all states require phlebotomists to be licensed, it is important to check if this is a requirement in your state. In addition to licensing, there are states where there are levels of practicing phlebotomy technicians. Each of the levels has its responsibilities different from all the others.

How much do phlebotomist's make?

The payment rates for the phlebotomists vary according to the state and the level of qualification. Phlebotomists that have studied other courses within the medical field earn a lot more as they can do more than just drawing blood from the patients

The Bureau of Labor statistic puts the median annual wage for Phlebotomists at a $15.72 per hour or $32, 710 a year. The salary may go up depending on the additional qualifications that you have as a phlebotomist.

 The job outlook

Employment opportunities for phlebotomists are projected to grow at the rate of 25 percent all the way to 2024. This growth is above the average growth many occupations in and out of the healthcare sector. The high growth rate is partially contributed by the aging population that requires health checkups from time to time. There is also an increase in the number of people who seek health tests to ascertain if they are of good health.