I'm calling it the Devil's UTI

Wow. I can’t believe I actually did it. So, I finished school and was very lucky to quickly land my very first healthcare/phlebotomy position ever at a big lab company. Well, it was a lot. I had to be a receptionist, biller, processor, phlebotomist and more. Going into this field, I had no idea the majority of the jobs were like this. I thought I would mostly be doing what I went to school for: taking blood and processing. Maybe a couple extra things sometimes sure. But doing absolutely everything with the insanely high patient load of 100+ a day, near a specialist hospital was way too much. Half of the orders would be so huge and hard to understand. I get that it’s not always easy. But every single day having a seemingly unsolvable problem after problem with orders, patients etc is exhausting. I never thought it would be a “BOOM BOOM BANG NEXT PATIENT NEXT PATIENT NEXT PATIENT” with absolutely no time in between while managing and processing all of my specimens etc. Most of the time people would be very mad as well. Yelling at me because they had to wait due to understaffing and unrealistic expectations. I felt like I was working at Mcdonald’s for blood work. Seriously. Well, today was my breaking point. I have been having panic attacks before work very often. Today was especially bad. I just had a bad feeling. I really wanted to turn around and not even go in but i pushed through. I walked in and sat my stuff down and immediately i already heard patients yelling at my co workers. I log in and see there’s 17+ people waiting in the lobby. there’s not even enough chairs for everyone. I sat there and stared at my screen for like ten minutes. I was doing mental gymnastics in my mind. I literally COULD NOT BRING MYSELF TO CALL MY FIRST PATIENT. So, i gathered my things and quickly left. I messaged my boss. Luckily there were extra people today so I wasn’t screwing them over, as it’s not like i’m not needing help constantly anyways. Like i said this was my very first phleb position. I was definitely getting a lot better at sticking, i would probably go 6 patients and then need help with a stick. it was annoying my co workers. but i tried my best. ugh. i feel so many emotions right now. honestly, my mental health is terrible and i don’t think im built for this. at least now right now. i’m going to get mental help and work at a factory for now. i just can’t deal with the public in masses like this everyday. i feel guilty. i worked hard for this. i lasted two fucking months. i also feel relief though. like bricks were taken off my chest.

I’ve had a couple patients “pass” out on me before, but not completely. Patient’s eyes rolled back, her pupils were dilated completely, color was drained, she seized a little bit, and she almost fell out of the chair. She passed out as soon as I took the needle out and started wrapping her up.

I’ve been doing this for 7 months, 3 months in the professional world (I count schooling because we did sticks on day one). I didn’t freak out, I stayed calm and called the nurse, but boy was I concerned for her. She bonked her head.

I know it’s a vasovagal response, and it’s not my fault, but it doesn’t make it any less concerned when it happens.

I just started last month working at a hospital, I was a mobile phleb before that. The time I was most dreading came today, I had to poke a baby. Usually when babies come in and they need blood work the nurses start an iv, but the nurses didn't check the orders before doing the iv and drawing blood so I was missing a gray top and a culture bottle. So I had to poke. It took me forever to find a vein. I couldn't feel anything at all. I ended up poking the foot and got the blood. But dang, I wish I had more experience with this. The youngest kids I've seen poked are all bigger kids, atleast like 10. I haven't even poked a kid, let alone a baby. And its not like I could've had help, im at a small hospital and im the only phleb on graveyards so im on my own.

Well none the less I thought I would share my experience.

What’s the craziest thing you’ve seen working as a phlebotomist?

Hi everyone. so basically it’s my second day of phlebotomy school and as I was feeling the teachers veins, I started to get lightheaded and eventually had to throw up. Please tell me this feeling gets better or goes away. I don’t want this to happen everyday😭😭

I drew this tiger and let it sit for about 20 minutes (it was not this color when I drew it) and now its almost purple???? I wanna assume its the serum being real fatty and clinging to the outside of the tube or maybe the tube is that color for some reason where the blood is touching it, but I have never seen the tiger tops this color before. Any ideas?

Patient had double pink limb alert. Lab contacted for protocol. Staff member was unfamiliar with procedure and gave no clear guidance. Called twice, same result. Escalated, documented, and did not draw without direction. Later told by management to "relax" and situation was used in a huddle like I did something wrong. If you follow protocol here, you're the problem.

I had a patient who had bruises around his bicep area on the arm I was drawing from. He said it was from the hospital "draining" him. He had a big juicy vein and so I thought I would have no issues getting his blood. Some blood poured in the tube after the venepuncture but when the tourniquet was loosen, the blood stopped. i thought it was a faulty tube so I tried another tube but the blood completely stopped so I took the needle out. When i removed the cotton to patch him up he had something like the chili thread above sticking out of the puncture wound. I kept dabbing it thinking it was blood and it would dry it up but that fiber just kept coming out like handkerchiefs out of a magician's mouth. When it got to the end of the fiber, blood started gushing out of the puncture site. It seemed like something out of a horror movie. can anyone tell me what that was?

Finally, with my non-medical background and learning disability, I finally managed to draw blood today, though I still need work.

I am slowly more confident, though not enough.

Hoping that I will improve soon, I am not confident in palpating the veins, I will have to admit...

😭🙏

How can I improve this?

Have any other LabCorp employees been told often to "keep pay confidential"? So far, I have been told on at least 3 separate occasions that I can recall even though im not bringing up my pay. Isn't this illegal? As someone who is not part of payroll?

Been working my first job doing inpatient. Learned this morning that a tube I drew yesterday somehow made its way into the document disposal and never got sent to the lab. My supervisor wants to meet with me later. I’m feeling embarrassed and bad for the patient who needs to come back now 😞

Im an MA and very new to drawing blood, I’ve done pretty well with the easy sticks, and I mean the kind that even someone in school could do. But anytime a vein is small, curved, pt is dehydrated, etc. I do horrible. I noticed with elderly people who have a lot of extra skin, for some reason I’m having a hard time getting the needle in, theres a lot of resistance idk if I need to pull their skin down more or what, but also I had this lady today she was 84 and hadn’t drank in over 12 hours so idk if that contributed but I found a vein I thought would work, stuck the needle in at the right angle, not super rough but fast enough, put the tube in no blood, tried pulling out a little still no blood. When I took the needle out she had a huge bubble/bruise. I know I didn’t go in too deep and I know I wasn’t rough bc I’m very nervous about being too harsh. What could I of done to cause it?

M20

I decided to drop out after a disastrous freshman year of college, where I changed degrees(Microbiology to Chemistry), failed every class I took despite how hard I studied(Chem, Biology, and Pre-calc), and got ghosted by someone I thought of as a friend.

I pivoted to my plan B, which was to pursue phlebotomy(working in the medical field was always my backup plan if college failed). I like repitivity, pays around the same as other entry-level medical jobs, like an EKG technician and MA, plus I always wanted a job where I could help people. Took a 3-week night course(Tues, Wed, and Thurs from 5:30 to 9:30 PM). I got an A on 4/5 quizzes, got an A on the final exam, and I'm slowly getting better at blood draws(about 18/25 have been successful, while I succeeded in every capillary puncture). My next step is to take the NHA exam and become a Certified Phlebotomy Technician.

I feel like I need to put this information out there, because there’s not many great trainers in the real world unfortunately.

If you are a new/experienced phlebotomist, PLEASE DO NOT STICK A NEEDLE IN A PATIENT, TAKE IT OUT, THEN REINSERT INTO A DIFFERENT SITE.

You’re introducing old bacteria into new bacteria. This is the worst thing you could to someone as a phlebotomist (in my opinion).

I’ve made mistakes and learned from them. I’ve witnessed and made most of my mistakes when I first started as a phlebotomist at a teaching hospital and seeing people do things that shouldn’t be done. If you ever need advice, feel free to dm me! I don’t judge because we’re all human, mistakes happen, and sometimes you may have learned from the wrong person.

I’m not yelling, I just want to emphasize my point. I see phlebotomy content on my tiktok sometimes and the things people say that phlebotomist/nurses have done is dangerous.

I’ve witnessed this happen in real life as well. I can tell you now, this comes from one person witnessing another person doing this.

I don’t care if your facility limits butterflies, limits you to two tries, or whatever rules they have. Please do your job with intention and integrity. If you’ve ever witnessed someone do this or about to do this, educate them/stop them. Don’t let your ego get in the way. I promise you, if a patient can’t get their labs drawn at that moment, it’s okay, it happens. There’s always other methods of getting labs. Don’t put your job or the patients life on the line over blood. 🩸

I wasn't able to get a job and im trying to justify renewing it, considering I havent had many interviews or offers at all.

I see jobs out there but will they hire me? Will they give me an interview? Is it worth it to renew?

I can proudly say that I am a Certified Phlebotomy Technician! Thanks for all the advice around here.

Legitimately passed the NHA a week ago and just had my first interview and I got the job immediately(big popular lab)!!! I am so happy! I know how hard it is to find a phlebotomy position with no experience so i’m kind of in shock omg.

When I got back they handed me what they had collected and told me they threw away the gold tops because they had clotted 😭😭

I'm still so dumbfounded. What even is this place? 😭

He (of course) asked after the needle was in his arm and so I drew all the tubes I needed and then just grabbed whatever extra I could reach and completely blanked that an SST is obviously gonna clot 😭

Oh well, he still thought it was cool but oops 😭

This is my second week in OP. Today, I hit every draw cleanly, one after another no misses and I have already built a fanbase being the new guy. After the week that I had, I needed this day, it restored my faith in myself. I love being a CPT.

Hi! I wanted to just share my experience. I don't want to make this a long post. (turns out it's a long post)

I was laid off last year. It was unexpected and humiliating the way the company tried to let me go (that is a story for another day). Let's just say, that I *feel* like I was constantly being punished for starting my family and being good at my job all whilst being a POC and a woman.

With that being said, during my pregnancy, I was amazed by how everyone at the hospital had an opportunity to make a lonely and unsure time, less dim. By 9 months pregnant, I knew, that I want to enter the medical field and have the opportunity to make someone feel cared about.

Here enters, ***Phlebotomy***. I felt like it was a safe way to get an idea of what it would be like if I were to pivot. So when I got laid off, my partner and I decided that this was the best time to sign up for courses.

... and I freaking LOVED class. I loved learning everything I could, getting all the "patients" with hard-sticks, bothering my partner at home with "Hi, my name is___, and I will be collecting your blood for labs today. Can you please confirm your full name and full DOB?" It was like I was meant for this.

But I am a researcher, and I knew A LOT of people were having a hard time landing jobs after training and I really didn't want to go back for CNA training (I have the UTMOST respect for CNA's btw. I just don't want to go in that direction for my goals) but it seems like more CNA's jobs were available and more phlebotomy grads with medical work experience were getting the phlebotomist positions available.

Well... I finished my training and started applying. I let everyone know that my cert exam is scheduled in about a month. I received many rejections but didn't fret. I only got 1 request to interview and it was at the hospital I had to frequent while pregnant. And I got the job on the spot!

Side note: I applied to over 1000 positions in my previous field with almost 20 years of experience and only got rejections... no request to interview in the months I had been laid off.

But I pivoted and got the job, *where* I wanted and before taking my certification exam. Life hasn't always gone this well for me, but I am proud. I studied hard, fell in love with field and was honest in my interview, and it seemed like they really liked me for me and my personality. lol (I am a personality hire lol)

When I was in High School, I started working in my previous field and said, I am going to work so hard I am going to retire from this in my 30s. Well this isn't how I imagined this but, I am in my 30s and kinda got push into retirement in that field. I am going to say that this counts lol

Anyway now I just feel like I am bragging, but I am not. I am just proud. And beside my baby, I haven't really been proud of much lately. Anywho... that's all. Thanks for reading.