Obtaining a blood sample through a venous rod or central line is an important nursing skill. Bloodletting is vital for a variety of medical diagnoses, procedures and tests. Without the proper specimen, unhelpful or even harmful medical treatment may occur. This skill is not taught in nursing schools due to legality issues. Students should learn venipuncture in books and observe licensed nurses performing this task in a clinical setting.
While most hospitals do have blood collection teams, it is still vital that nurses learn these skills to provide the best patient care possible. In fact, most intensive care units require nurses to have these skills. Blood collection teams usually only make rounds at specific times in the hospital setting, so taking a sample may be the responsibility of the nursing staff if lab tests are ordered immediately.
The practice of bloodletting is not something that can be learned strictly by watching a video or reading a how-to guide, but something that must be practiced over and over again in a controlled environment with other trained professionals. It's important to talk to your supervisor to learn the steps to becoming certified at your hospital. Each health care system has its own requirements before a nurse can perform a blood draw.
The World Health Organization's (WHO) best practice guidelines for blood draws include the following: advance planning, use of appropriate locations, and quality control.
The WHO has developed the following standards of patient care for hospitals to follow: provision of appropriate supplies and protective equipment, availability of post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), avoidance of contaminated blood-collection equipment, proper training in bloodletting, patient cooperation, and quality of laboratory samples. quality of laboratory sampling.
The first step in proper blood sampling is to identify the appropriate vein to puncture. In adult patients, the most common and preferred is the median elbow vein in the anterior fossa of the elbow. Often referred to as the anterior elbow or AC, it can be found in the fissure of the elbow between the cephalic median vein and your median vein. This is a very large vein and can produce excellent blood results if stuck properly. Some healthcare providers may insert a blood-drawing peripheral venous catheter into this vessel for frequent blood draws.