During my first week I attended phlebotomy clinic that work with the nursing team. I asked my team leader if they allowed students to perform venipuncture in this trust and they do.I was working with two phlebotomist in clinic. I observed for the first few times making sure I understood and was confident in what I had practiced at school and how it is done within this practice. The team here were very supportive and welcoming. In the clinic, I was helping cleaning the arm to keep the field clean as possible before the needle goes into the vein as most children have numbing cream/ Ametop/Elma so its important to wipe it off once its done its job. Then attaching the tourniquet to be able to feel the vein and I soon observed that not every being can be seen by your eyes.

Also learning what blood bottles we needed so the most common is gold which is biochemistry/microbiology and immunology analysis- urea&electrolytes, bone profile, liver function tests, thyroid function tests, troponin, lipid profile, immunology, serology. We also used a lot of purple which is for a full blood count. We also used grey for glucose analysis and blue for coagulation.

The phlebotomist are very good at reassuring and talking to the children as this can be very scary for them. They show the parents the best way to safely hold their children in a blood test. At the end of the day I approached the person I was working with and asked if it was okay if I did the blood test. This was an older child which i thought was probably better for my first experience as younger children get very distressed and move a lot. With a lot of support I got into the vein and successfully got the blood test completed. After the blood test I double checked the patient was okay and didn’t feel funny after.