In many health-care settings, the medical assistant is responsible for collecting blood specimens from patients and even performs some waived testing. In order to properly collect the specimens, you will need to review the circulatory system and the function of blood. You will be introduced in this chapter to venipuncture and capillary collection procedures, and you will learn the appropriate supplies and equipment needed to perform these procedures. You will also learn techniques for dealing with different types of patients and how to efficiently and effectively obtain blood samples. Additionally, you will receive instruction on the performance and screening of common blood tests.

Outline

• The Role of the Medical Assistant
• The Functions and Composition of Blood
• Collecting Blood Specimens
• Responding to Patient Needs
• Performing Common Blood Tests

Learning Outcomes

After completing Chapter 48, you will be able to:

 48.1 Discuss the composition and function of blood.
 48.2 Describe the process for collecting a blood specimen.
 48.3 Explain the importance of confirming patients' identities and correctly identifying blood samples.
 48.4 Describe how to perform venipuncture and capillary puncture procedures.
 48.5 Identify the equipment and supplies required for blood-drawing procedures.
 48.6 Discuss the correct procedures for disposing of waste generated during blood-drawing procedures.
 48.7 Discuss common fears and concerns of patients and how to ease these fears.
 48.8 Develop techniques for helping patients with special needs, including children, the elderly, patients at risk for uncontrolled bleeding, and difficult patients.
 48.9 Identify common blood tests and explain their purposes.
 48.10 Perform certain blood tests.

Summary

Successful phlebotomy procedures require not only superior technical skills but also excellent interpersonal communication skills. When you are confident in your ability to perform venipuncture and capillary puncture techniques and in your understanding of common blood tests, you impart confidence to the patient. You should know what pretest instructions the patient should follow and what the patient can expect during the test.

As a medical assistant, you may be called on to complete certain testing procedures or to explain the purpose of tests to the patient. Therefore, it is important to under-stand the basics of blood composition and the common blood tests a patient might undergo. You can make the difference between a successfully drawn, accurately evaluated blood specimen and one that must be drawn again from a confused, unhappy patient.