Exam Info

Missed Blood Draws

On a discussion group post, one examiner was asking about missed blood draws. My response:

"Frankly, I think you are being WAY too hard on yourself. Everyone misses, and your numbers are nothing out of the ordinary. Sometimes the fault is you: you're tired, you're distracted, you're nervous, whatever. And sometimes the applicant just has small veins, is obese, whatever.
Just don't compound the mistake by digging around with the needle. If you don't get the vein at first, take it out, apologize, and start over. (Digging around hurts, increases your likelihood of causing a bruise, and almost never works).

If you do 2 sticks, and don't get it, just stop. The applicant may tell you that, "At Dr. Blank's office, they always stick me 11 times before they get it." Well, let them do that at Dr. Blank's office. An applicant will appreciate your honesty in saying, "It's just not working today," and telling them that you'll work something out. Then call the office (if this is one ordered through a company) or the agent (if a remote order), explain the situation, and ask where you should go from there. If an insurance agent has been in the business for more than 2 weeks, they will know that sometimes, it just doesn't work."

posted by Jim Huffman @ 5:24 AM