Phlebotomy Practical I

I forgot to tell you all how my class' first practical exam worked out.

Oh, they were SO nervous! It's really funny to watch them in those last minutes leading up to the actual exam.

We make them draw numbers, and they enter the room by twos in the order that their numbers came up.

We set up two artificial arms, the same arms that they practice on at class. We've named the arms. One arm is named Annie Cube, (for the medial antecubital vein) and the other Armadeus Mozart. (Get it? ARMadeus?)

For the first exam, Jan and I each have two requisitions, one for each "patient". And, we sometimes give the students the wrong req in order to see if they remember that proper identification is of utmost importance. They're supposed to tell us they have the wrong req. Only a few of them caught it. The rest noticed, but thoght we had just accidentally given them the wrong piece of paper and proceeded.

One woman got really pissed at me because her score reflected her ID screw up. After a reminder that I had commented the week before that the students needed to pay attention to *everything* that Jan and I said, she simmered down. We harp on them constantly that patient ID is extremely important; there's no excuse to take anything for granted.

One woman, who has done very well during practice sessions was totally flummoxed by the idea of "role" playing for the test. She set the req down across the room and stood and thought for over ten minutes on how she should proceed with the simple directions she was given when she came into the room.

We can't tell them what to do once the test begins, unless it's the most minor of things. For example, after she stood there, I told her to just treat this as another practice session. She didn't do so well, point-wise, but she had enough points to pass, at least.

The woman who is in danger of losing her job if she doesn't pass this class called me before the test. She was in a horrible panic. After we talked for a bit, I got her calmed down, and made her promise not to do any more studying with the exception of going over the order of draw a few more times. She knows the material; she has a terrible case of test anxiety.

She did wonderfully on the practical. She was jumping up and down like a little kid, she was so happy! Cracked Jan and I up. She stayed after class and Jan and I both let her try to draw our blood. She was unsuccessful with both of us, but at least she has now attempted to draw blood on real skin, instead of the arm.

Overall, they did very well. Some of them I'd highly recommend for the phlebotomy team at the hospital. Others, I wouldn't care to work with at all; I'm beginning to recognize some personality types that are indignant when things are done improperly to *them*, but have no qualms whatsoever about taking shortcuts if it makes things easier for them in the workday.

So, that's the brief rundown of the practical. If they're like the other classes, most of them will make great strides in skill and confidence before the next one.