More than a poke
Lab Team combines empathy with expertise
Having blood drawn can be nerve-wracking for some patients. Anxiety around needles is real, not to mention any wooziness at the sight of blood.
For beginning phlebotomists, there can be a parallel stress on the other side of the needle.
OneWorld Phlebotomist Jessica “Jessy” Gonzalez remembers her nervousness early in her career, when she learned to take blood from newborns to check their bilirubin levels. The procedure required a specific technique to hold the tiny foot while doing a heel stick. Having a child herself, she worried about hurting the baby.
“It was difficult for me at first,” Gonzalez said. “At first, you’re like, ‘I feel so bad. It’s a baby, they’re crying.’ But when it’s for their own good, for them to be healthy, then yes. Absolutely.”
That drive to care for her patients – no matter how big or small – along with time and practice have led to a growing sense of confidence for Gonzalez. Six years since her first days at OneWorld, she is now sharing her expertise as a preceptor by training incoming lab staff and phlebotomists.
Even though Gonzalez said she’s still learning, she said confidence and developing trust with patients is essential to a phlebotomist’s success. Just as she became adept at a procedure that once scared her, she sees trainees grow their own confidence from “zero to a hundred” over a course of days.
OneWorld’s lab employees enter with a range of prior experience. If they aren’t already certified in phlebotomy, they must complete their certification within three months of employment. Along the way, they learn techniques, preparation, equipment and safety.
And of course, along with the technical skills, they learn to simultaneously provide good patient care.
“I think the number one trait that I can really see in my staff is resilience and knowing how to multitask,” said Lab Manager Joseph Luna, MPH, MLS (ASCP)CM. “When you go and draw somebody, you’re looking at the veins, you’re making sure you’re keeping an eye on your patient. Sometimes we have patients that pass out, so knowing those reactions and those cues… you really have to know how to work on those tough situations and know when to call for help.”
For a patient experiencing a blood draw, that “poke” is the most visible part of the lab team’s work.
For the Lab Team, the poke is one of many steps in phlebotomy that require close attention.
Anyone who has had blood drawn may have noticed a rainbow of test tube colors. There’s a reason for the spectrum: the color codes indicate test type. Luna said his team is taught to look at each lab ordered because they need to collect different types of samples based on the complexity and methodology of the test.
“My team has to know that a [Complete Blood Count] goes with the purple top, or a [Comprehensive Metabolic Panel] goes with the ‘tiger’ top,” Luna said. “All of those have different components within the test tube, so very different anticoagulants, some tubes will yield serum and another will yield plasma. When my team sees these labs, there’s a test code [that is associated with the required color tube and volume]. Everything could be as low as 0.1 mL to sometimes 2 mL. So, it’s knowing how many test tubes are going to be needed, the color of the test tubes and then making sure we process everything correctly.”
The importance of correct processing can’t be understated. Patients and providers rely on accurate lab results for disease treatment and diagnosis, and even routine labs can leave patients feeling vulnerable as their samples are taken and processed. For patients who are having lab work done as part of immigration screenings, Gonzalez knows that this moment is of great importance.
No matter what brings a patient to the OneWorld Lab, however, the team is ready to support them along their health care journey. Along with confidence, empathy is key.
“I love that even though I’m doing phlebotomy every day, it’s different every day,” Gonzalez said. “We work with all kinds of patients and different languages. I love that patients feel comfortable coming here. Some might even say it just feels very homey. For me, when I work with patients that speak my native language, Spanish, it’s like I’m taking care of my grandma, my grandpa, my dad, my mom. And I love that.”