L1 - Understanding Phlebo | PMTP 2

• phlebotomy

  • process of collecting blood through the vein by using incision or puncture methods
  • To draw blood for analysis or as a part of therapeutic or diagnostic measures under the physician’s request
• in the stone age, humans used crude tools to cut vessels and drain blood from the body
• hippocrates - believed that a person's health was dependent on the balance of four humors
• four humors

  earth - blood and brain

  air - phlegm and lungs

  fire - black bile and spleen

  water - yellow bile and gallbladder
• four humors are consists of earth, fire, air and water
• in middle ages, barber-surgeons performed bloodletting as part of the treatment for some illnesses
• during the 17th and 18th centuries, phlebotomy was treated as major therapy
• cupping - an alternative medicine that helps ease pain, inflammation that involves the application of special heated cups on the patient's skin and the incision is made using a fleam (lancet)
• leeching is also known as hirudotherapy
• leeching - a method that uses leeches for bloodletting and is currently used for microsurgical replantation that involves the process of placing a drop of milk or blood on the patient's skin and introducing Hirudo medicinalis (medicinal leech) to the site
• Main Goals of Phlebotomy Practice

  1. For diagnosis and treatment using blood samples
  2. For transfusion, to remove blood from the donor
  3. For removal of blood for polycythemia or therapeutic purposes
• main methods that were used in phlebotomy are venipuncture and capillary puncture
• venipuncture - the method of collecting blood using a needle inserted in a vein
• capillary puncture - done by puncturing the skin
• Role of the Phlebotomists

  1. To collect blood samples for lab testing or for transfusion
  2. Responsible in delivering or transporting collected samples within appropriate prescribed time limits
  3. Process collected blood samples such as centrifuging and aliquoting samples ready for lab testing
  4. Asked to assist in collecting other specimens such as urine and other non-blood samples from patients
  5. The main players in blood-letting activities such as drawing of blood units from donors for transfusion to a patient requiring whole blood or blood components
• A phlebotomists need to have good communication skills which are essential to ensure that the patient feels at ease during the venipuncture procedure
• Communication is important in the healthcare setting because of valuable information that needs to be transmitted properly from one person to another
• in verbal communication, good phlebotomists use words that can be easily understood by the patient
• in a non-verbal communication, phlebotomists should be keen in observing the patient facial's expression and other non-verbal communication cues that could tell something about how the patient feels
• by active listening, phlebotomists build rapport by listening to their patients
• inpatient - requires patient to stay in the hospital for at least one night to be serviced by tertiary care practitioners
• outpatient - patients are serviced by secondary care specialists on the same day
• all patients can be serviced by primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of healthcare
• primary level - health units in the rural areas and sub-units which operated by the DOH
• secondary level - non-departmentalized hospitals that attend to patients during the symptomatic stages of an ailment
• tertiary level - medical centers and large hospitals coupled with highly technical facilities that can address serious disease
• ambulatory care - given to outpatients or patients requiring care or follow-up check-ups after their discharge from the hospital
• homebound services - procedures, tests and services provided to a patient are done in a patient's home or in a long-term facility
• public health service - unit at the local level but are still under the jurisdiction of the health department of the government. services are offered with little to no charge at all
• hospital - an institution that has permanent inpatient beds with 24-hour nursing service along with therapeutic and diagnostic services managed by organized medical staff or personnel
• a hospital houses the clinical lab services where tests requested by physicians are performed
• hematology - blood and blood-forming tissues
• coagulation - ability of blood to form and dissolve clots
• chemistry - amounts of certain chemical in a blood sample
• serology/immunology - serum and autoimmune reactions in the blood
• urinalysis - tests urine specimen
• microbiology - microorganisms in body fluids or tissues
• blood bank/immunohematology - blood for transfusion
• stat labs - located near the emergency room of some tertiary-care facilities so that procedure and tests can be done immediately when needed
• reference laboratory - large and independent lab that provides specialized and confirmatory lab tests for blood, urine and tissues and offers as well faster turnaround or processing time