Are you ready to become a medical assistant and want to learn more about phlebotomy certification? If so, you have come to the right place. This article will review a medical assistant’s role, job duties, certification, and phlebotomy training.

Phlebotomy Certification and Training: Medical Assistant’s Role

A phlebotomy certification can help you gain a position in a health facility. Plus, certification in phlebotomy will help you advance in your job. It will also offer you a leg up on the competition in the employment market. Phlebotomy certification is part of Ģą˝´«Ă˝ College’s Medical Assistant program.

Phlebotomy training can help you gain on-the-job experience and make you more marketable. While it’s not required in every state, it can make you more attractive to employers.

You’ll use your phlebotomy skills in doctor’s offices or emergency care settings in a high-stress environment. In labs, you can specialize in phlebotomy as a career. If you’re interested in a more hands-on career, you should get certification in this field. A phlebotomy certification will prepare you for an entry-level role in a healthcare facility. It is also an excellent entry-level credential for a medical assistant, as it allows you to begin.

What Are the Steps for Phlebotomy for Medical Assistants?

Phlebotomy is the process of drawing blood for medical testing or donation. The steps for phlebotomy include:

Verify the Patient’s Identity

Check the patient’s name and date of birth against EHR records. Lack of identification can lead to serious medical errors. Verification ensures patients receive the appropriate tests.

Review the Requisition

Physicians use requisition forms to order tests. They include instructions on which tests to perform and why. A review will help you pick the right equipment and screen for medical or billing inconsistencies in the request. The safest time to ask questions is before blood is drawn.

Gather Phlebotomy Supplies

Gathering supplies, such as gloves, alcohol swabs, needles, and collection tubes, before drawing blood helps avoid unnecessary interruptions. It streamlines the procedure, alleviates patient anxiety, and reduces the risk of infection.

Prepare the Patient

Medical assistants should explain the process to patients and verify consent to proceed. Making them comfortable is essential. Most patients sit for the procedures, but patients with a fear of needles or a history of fainting may need to lie down.

Wash Your Hands

Handwashing is still the most effective way to protect yourself and others from infection. Scrub your hands vigorously with soap and warm water for 20 seconds before blood draw.

Wear Personal Protective Equipment

The minimum personal protective equipment for drawing blood is a pair of clean gloves. Gloves protect against bloodborne pathogens. When working with challenging patients, wearing a face shield can deflect splashes. Consider a lab coat or apron to safeguard your clothing.

Apply the Tourniquet

A tourniquet above the venipuncture site sequesters blood in the vein, making it easier to find when punctured. Although venous blood can be drawn from any vein, medical assistants are trained to draw blood on the hand, wrist, or near the elbow.

Cleanse the Site

Phlebotomy isn’t a sterile procedure, but cleaning the site with an alcohol swab reduces the risk of infection.

Puncture the Vein

Bracing the vein with the thumb and index finger, use your other hand to puncture it at a 15-30 degree angle. Needles should be bevel-up and suitable for the patient’s size and physical condition.

Perform Phlebotomy

Push the collection tube into the tube holder and draw the necessary amount of blood. Remove and replace the tube to collect the required volume. Tubes are color-coded to reflect additives necessary for specific tests. Depending on the types of tests ordered, you may need to collect multiple tubes.

Apply Pressure

Once the blood draw is complete, withdraw the needle and apply firm pressure to the site with a cotton ball. Applying an adhesive wrap will protect the patient’s clothing.

Clean Up

Dispose of used supplies according to safety and infection control protocols. Needles are put in puncture-proof “sharps” containers. Gloves and gauze, depending on the situation, go in the regular trash bin or a biohazard bag.

Educate the Patient

Phlebotomy can occasionally result in complications. A medical assistant’s role is to teach patients self-care. You’ll advise them to keep the area clean and apply ice to swollen or bruised areas. You will also provide them with contact information for follow-up.

Label and Process Samples

Label the collection tubes with the patient’s information, the ordering doctor’s name, and the time and date of collection. Then, process the collection tubes according to the laboratory’s guide to ensure they’re test-ready. Some may need to be centrifuged to separate the liquid from the solids, and others may require refrigeration or flash freezing.

Document the Procedure

Something is only considered done once it’s fully documented. You’ll note the procedure in the patient’s electronic health records, including the date, time, blood draw site, complications, and education provided.

Medical Assistant Program

Ready to start a new career as a medical assistant? Ģą˝´«Ă˝ & Institute offers medical assisting courses to gain essential skills and training at multiple campuses from Lilburn, Roswell/Roswell, and Atlanta/Marietta to Orlando, FL and Raleigh, NC. The core curriculum at these campuses focuses on the medical assisting skills and training you will need to seek entry-level employment in physicians’ offices, clinics, hospitals, and other medical settings needing the services of associates trained in both front and back-office medical assisting skills. These medical assisting courses will be the first step in starting a rewarding career.

Contact Ģą˝´«Ă˝ & Institute today to learn more about becoming a medical assistant.

Why Get A Phlebotomy Certificate?

A phlebotomy certification is essential for advancing your medical assistant career. Employers will look to their medical assistant and identify if they have received training and certification in phlebotomy. Phlebotomy is also rewarding, as you are an integral part of the medical team and helping patients at the same time.

Six Reasons to Get a Phlebotomy Certificate

If you are wondering if adding a phlebotomy certificate as a medical assistant is right for you, there are six reasons to consider. Getting a phlebotomy certification only takes a few months, the medical assistant will help patients feel comfortable during a blood draw, they work in a field that is constantly growing, medical assistants work alongside colleagues that care about their patients, a medical assistant will improve their chances of advancement by obtaining a phlebotomy certification, and medical assistants that have a phlebotomy certification are a valuable asset to the medical field.

Quick Phlebotomy Certification

It doesn’t take very long to complete a phlebotomy certificate program. It only takes a few short months to complete this training at a vocational school.

Help Patients Feel Comfortable

Going to have your blood drawn is often uncomfortable, especially for children and babies. A medical assistant will work to calm patients down before and during the blood draw. This can provide satisfaction to the medical assistant that performs phlebotomy.

Work in a Field that is Constantly Growing

Because of the aging population, medical care is needed now more than ever. More and more people are in need of a blood draw for testing to determine their health and current diagnosis. The field of phlebotomy is in high demand and you can constantly grow with it.

Work with Colleagues Who Have a Passion for Patient Care

It helps to have a passion for patient care and you’ll find that most of your coworkers feel the same way. Working alongside doctors, nurses and medical staff that want to help patients is why so many medical assistants stay within this field.

It’s a Great Start for Advancement

Even if your plan is not to stay working as a medical assistant, learning phlebotomy helps you to get your foot into the medical field. With your skills as a medical assistant and phlebotomist you can begin working in hospitals, laboratories and doctor’s offices. Medical assistants that perform phlebotomy can be found in many different medical offices, so opportunities to advance are within reach.

Be a Valuable Asset to the Medical Field

While medical assistants that perform phlebotomy may seem like they are overlooked, they are an integral part of the medical field. Without their phlebotomy skills and certificate, patients wouldn’t have blood drawn for special tests and diagnostics. This could result in patients getting sicker and not receiving the right treatment.

How to Get Started

If you are ready to start your career as a medical assistant that performs phlebotomy, it is important to receive the right training and education. By receiving a phlebotomy certification, you can begin your work in the field of blood drawing and can become a beneficial asset to the medical facility and patients.

Once you make the decision to get a phlebotomy certification, you are doing something that is going to benefit you and your future career. You will also help countless patients to feel comfortable about this anxious situation.

Did learning about a medical assistant’s role in phlebotomy interest you? Ģą˝´«Ă˝ College offers a variety of continuing education and professional development courses that are designed to be an “add-on”to existing knowledge and experience in the medical field. Applicants wishing to take a must provide documentation that they have prior medical backgrounds, either through coursework or work experience. The phlebotomy continuing education training courses are intended to enhance a person’s ability to work in their chosen field by adding additional skills and knowledge and are not to be considered as a direct path to a new career.

Ready to become a medical assistant? Ģą˝´«Ă˝ & Institute offers to gain essential skills and training. The core curriculum focuses on the medical assisting skills and training you will need to seek entry-level employment in physicians’ offices, clinics, hospitals, and other medical settings needing the services of associates trained in both front and back office medical assisting skills. These medical assisting courses will be the first step in starting a rewarding career.