For All Phlebotomist

A Phlebotomist's Sentiment

(The untold story of the person who extracts your blood)

Phlebotomy. The act of drawing or removing blood from the circulatory system through a cut (incision) or puncture in order to obtain a sample for analysis and diagnosis.

It is my everyday responsibility to draw blood from patients who are either fasting, sick, infectious, critically ill or those who are just simply having their routine check-up. This is my norm. Society probably thinks of it as the simplest task that is performed by the laboratory. Probably. But would the word “simple” or “simplest” suffice the description of the duty as a phlebotomist?

Perhaps not. The technique is rather hard and takes a lot skill before you can manage to have a confidence of drawing blood. Honestly, even those whose have years of experience can still encounter some difficulty.  

This is the real picture. We wake up early in the morning to make it to our 6am shift. Most of the time, most of us don’t even have our breakfast. I guess that makes us the same with patients who are fasting. So we really get annoyed when patients complain about how hungry they are. Of course you can’t tell it to their face. But if patients would really want to be first in line, then why not come earlier? That seems logical to me.

I understand why people don’t like us. Who would? How can you like somebody who is going to stick you with a needle? Blood extraction would definitely hurt. I clearly understand why nurses get the commendations because they can show and express their affection when taking care of a patient. I would like a person who smiles at me and asks me what I want, what I need, what I feel then fixes my bed while I am still at bed. But definitely not the person who enters my room, pierce me with a needle then leaves me saying “thank you!”. But despite being disliked, this is my job.

As I have said earlier, phlebotomy is not that easy. And yes, we do fail in some extractions that we do. The agony of the patient that most often comes with anger is quite understandable. Hunger, illness, or long lines plus a missed extraction would definitely anger anyone. The only thing I do not hoped to see in these situations are exaggerations, patients making scenes and the one that I hate the most is when they degrade you, professionally and personally. When a patient makes a scene, it is actually the end of our day. Why? The patient commonly yells and makes sure everybody hears what he/she has to say. It commonly involves on how “unskillful” you are. Aside from being shamed in front of other patients, the feeling afterwards is distressing.  It feels like your energy is being sucked away from your body. And if you think this is too much, wait for the patient who knows your whole life and foresees your career! Never ever missed your extraction on these kinds of patients. If you do, they will tell you how a bad person you are, even asks for your diploma, your school, if you have your license, your age, your years of experience in phlebotomy then judges you as a person and as a professional. Then, degrades you and your career, promises on reporting you to your hospital/laboratory administration or sometimes even the media and breaks every inch left of your dignity. Yet, we rose from it while picking up what is left of our dignity. 

To be fair to our patients, to whom we dedicated ourselves to service, we truly understand how you feel and we accept our mistake. It is our fault if we fail to draw blood from patients. But, I believe that it would be mutually beneficial if we do not make scenes or humiliate a fellow human being. We are not robots. We get tired and exhausted (considering some us gets 100+ patients per shift).  We are not robots. We also have emotions. We get hurt too.

Phlebotomists have always hoped that they would also be understood in some ways. Most of us just wanted to be recognized and be commended. Many patients don’t even know what a phlebotomist is even if they had been extracted several times. A simple acknowledgement is big to us. When a patient tells us that it did not hurt that much, our hearts are actually filled with joy. It felt like an accomplishment. Our job is harder than most people think and being recognized is harder.          

There are other more opinions that I chose not to write (like the health hazard nature of my profession, salary, etc.). This was written not to complain but to be heard. For quite some years of being a phlebotomist, I have never read, or even heard of, an article about the lives or insights of a professional phlebotomist. I just want to share my experience to my fellow health professionals as well as patients. I love my job as much as I loved my service to the patients.  I personally believe that this is also the sentiment of my fellow phlebotomists. I chose to serve and it is what I do. 

"Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work."

- Aristotle

Share to all Med Teks, Phlebotomists, Nurse phlebotomists, RTs and other health professionals!

Please subscribe or comment. Thank you and God bless!

Like me on Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/MedTek101
Follow me on twitter @BuhayMedTek