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Recollects & bruising benchmarks

I suspect some of our staff aren’t very skilled at drawing based on the frequency of recollects and the extent of the bruising they leave behind. Is there anything out there that suggests what the average number of recollects is per phlebotomist?

Response:
A Q-Probe published in 1991 examined patient satisfaction and complications among 30,000 patients (80% survey return rate).(1) The survey gathered data on the size (average: 15.1mm) and frequency (16.1%) of bruising and the number of attempts by phlebotomists per patient (1.03). Ninety-three percent of venipunctures were eventually successful. (4.9% not attempted). But it doesn't state how many attempts were made before they were successful.
     A CAP Q-Probe conducted in 1992 addressed the level of recollects at 70 hospitals. 95% were collected on first attempt; 2.8% required two attempts; 0.8% required three attempts and 1.1% required four or more sticks. Unfortunately, this data is a bit dated. I haven't seen any more recent studies published. I hope this helps.

References:
1. Howantiz P, Cembrowski G, Bachner P. Laboratory phlebotomy. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 1991;115:867-872.
2. Howantiz P, Schifman R. Inpatient phlebotomy practices: A College of American Pathologists Q-Probe study of 2,351,643 phlebotomy requests. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 1994;118:601-605.