Two Ways To Collect Blood Specimen From A Patient

There are two ways that you can collect blood specimen from a patient. The first way is known as a venipuncture which is when a needle punctured a vein. Usually phlebotomist tend to draw from the cephalic and basilic veins in the antecubital area. Ways that you can collect blood from the vein is by using a syringe and using a needle with a vacutainer. The vacutainer is when you have a needle and another needle with rubber. The vacutainer gets hooked up to the area with the rubber needle. This method is prefered when you need to collect blood for more than one tube. Apply the tourniquet so that you can see the veins more clearly and palpate to find a vein that is elastic and rebound. The needle goes in at a fifteen degree angle and you have to make sure that the bevel of the needle is up. Venipunctures are often performed when laboratory test of the blood is needed. …show more content…
In a skin puncture the type of blood you are collecting is capillary. The equipment that you use for a skin puncture is a lancet, which is a short blade. The lancet is needed is because it controls the depth of the skin puncture. The most common sites for a skin puncture is the side of the fingers because you avoid the nerves in the middle of the finger and the heel of the foot. When you perform the skin puncture you need to wipe off the first drop of blood because it can contain tissue fluid which would make the needle contaminated if it touched the blood. Skin punctures are often performed when a nurse or doctor needs a small sample of blood to