quick blood test question

oystercatcher

money_saving_diva wrote: »

I had an awful experience having blood taken recently and I wish I had said something but I didn't - the nurse taking the blood couldn't find one of those straps they put around your upper arm while they take the blood so ........ wait for it............ she tied a latex glove round my arm?!!!? They never have a problem finding a vein or getting blood out of me so it was over quick. But how unprofessional???! Really put me off the NHS especially as I was being prepared for an operation on that ward!!

Loads of Drs do this it's a very efficient and practical way of getting on with the job in the absence of a tourniquet. Wouldn't it be more unprofessional and a waste of everybody's time to make you sit and wait for ages while they found a tourniquet. They are the sort of thing which are always disappearing.
Some Drs argue that it's more hygenic to use a disposable glove rather than a tourniquet which has been all over the place.
My tourniquet is over 20 years old, I have washed it a few times but not that often!!

money_saving_diva

oystercatcher wrote: »

Loads of Drs do this it's a very efficient and practical way of getting on with the job in the absence of a tourniquet. Wouldn't it be more unprofessional and a waste of everybody's time to make you sit and wait for ages while they found a tourniquet. They are the sort of thing which are always disappearing.
Some Drs argue that it's more hygenic to use a disposable glove rather than a tourniquet which has been all over the place.
My tourniquet is over 20 years old, I have washed it a few times but not that often!!

Ok point well made but I am sure you are more professional that this particular nurse was - she seemed pretty useless and this was just the start of it she couldn't find a plaster to put on my arm after she took the blood either - and she knew she had called me in to take my blood
Nevermind

Kaz2904

In my trust nurses are able to take blood from finger tip to antecubital fossa (inside of elbow). Taking blood is an extended role and not one that you are taught as a student nurse. The reason more and more nurses do take blood now is because the Drs are so busy.
When we do our course it is pointed out to us that we will not always get blood. We will have good and bad days. I work nights and some mornings I will look at a patients veins and not even bother trying, I say to them that the day staff will have better luck with more light and fresh eyes.
When I have not managed to get blood on the first attempt, I find myself much more nervous/anxious on subsequent attempts.
There are different ways of taking blood: lots of different equipment does the same job. We all have our personal favourites.
Tourniquets: We have been given a few rolls of disposable tourniquet by some drug reps. It is often very hard to get hold of a tourniquet and a glove will do the job. If you do find a proper one, you may find that the clip is not too good. In that case it is better to use a glove. Some people have such huge veins that a tourniquet is not necessary.
Another thing to remember is that we all have our favourite places for taking blood. Personally I am rubbish at getting blood from the elbow. I can usually get it from hands fore arms, wrists, the underside of the arm (I usually avoid bits that don't catch the sun as they are more sensitive) and have on desperate occasions had to get blood from the vein on the index finger.
Wipes aren't always needed but they can help the veins to be more visible.

Blood forms, as said earlier, it doesn't matter too much what is written on the form, the results are either in range or not.

WolfSong2000

Okay, just a quick update...saw doctor today, and was a waste of time as he insisted my TSH levels were normal..."perfect" is actually how he described them, and told me the other symptoms I had (poor memory, confusion, depression, etc) had nothing to do with my thyroid (all classic symptoms of problem with thyroid, btw) and instead diagnosed me as "midly bi-polar". Yeah, whatever :P.

Also tried to tell me that some people just "naturally" suffer from depression - that it's inherent and there's no actual cause. I could be wrong, but I don't buy that...the law of cause and effect surely comes into play somewhere?

Anyhow, as I'm going back to university next month he just fobbed me off and told me to see my doctor up there *sighs*.

daveyjp

Ask for anotehr test and a full count including iron, folate and B12 levels.

Poor memory, confusion, depression and if you get it tiredness (particularly after what you consider to be a good night's sleep) can all be down to anaemia.

karmacookie

Ask for the actual results plus ranges used to see how 'normal' you are!

SallyUK

Just came across this thread now and thought I'd add my tuppence worth (for what it's worth :rolleyes:):rolleyes:

I've been doing Phlebotomy training for the past few months and I was trained to do the following:

1. Check the patient's details.
2. Get the equipment ready that will be needed, bottles, needle, dry wipe, wet wipe etc.
3. Apply tourniquet.
4. Feel for suitable vein, (usually in inside of arm first)
5. Wipe with wet wipe.
6. While that's drying, put on gloves.
7. Hold needle and bottle in right hand, (along with other bottles, if more than one needs changing) and with left hand, hold the dry swab and with left thumb, pull skin taut under area where needle is being inserted and swiftly insert needle into vein, draw back plunger and hopefully blood will start flowing!
8. Take bottle off needle, take dry swab and hold down on top of tip of needle before withdrawing and then withdraw it swiftly. Press down and then apply a piece of tape over dry swab, and tell patient to remove after 30 minutes.

They hated using plasters where I trained.

When I went back to work in my usual place of work (Dr's surgery), they didn't have wet wipes at all and didn't even use gloves (NHS Trust policy didn't introduce the use of gloves until fairly recently) so anyone who was trained before that policy came into force doesn't have to wear gloves.

I asked them to order some wet wipes as I wanted to keep doing it the way in which I had been trained. If they couldn't find suitable veins with the normal needle, they often used the butterfly technique or smaller needles for those people who had smaller veins etc.

I love it and hopefully can go on and do further training.

Sal
x

Mojisola

SallyUK wrote: »

When I went back to work in my usual place of work (Dr's surgery), they didn't have wet wipes at all and didn't even use gloves (NHS Trust policy didn't introduce the use of gloves until fairly recently) so anyone who was trained before that policy came into force doesn't have to wear gloves.

This is madness! Aren't those trained under the previous system intelligent enough to change their method of working?

dieselhead

Interesting topic read it a couple of days ago and then went to give blood they swabed my arm, the nurse said she wiped my arm for 30 secs and let it dry for 30 secs, she took my blood nice and easy. However one thing that did really surprise me given all the nurses were dealing with blood was that no-one wore gloves!

Humphrey10

I've had quite a few blood tests over the last 5 years in three different primary care trusts (diabetes), never had my arm cleaned beforehand. Not noticed if they were wearing gloves or not though, I'm not looking in that direction by that point in case I see the needle!

They sometimes have to try both arms before they can get blood, and once they used the back of my wrist/hand, which was horrible. Kept staring at the bruise and the mark afterwards, I had to put a plaster on it so I couldn't see it, made me feel sick when I saw it.