2026 New Year's Resolutions for Phlebotomists

It’s that time of year again. Everyone’s making resolutions they won’t keep past February—gym memberships, meal prep, learning Italian. But as phlebotomists, we have some...specific hopes for what our patients might resolve to do differently in 2026.

New Year’s Resolutions We Wish Our Patients Would Make:

1. “I will drink water before my morning blood draw.” Please. We’re begging you. Your veins will thank you, and so will we.
2. “I will stop trying to tell you how to do your job.” Everyone thinks they are blood draw experts (though, oftentimes their experience comes from a Gray’s Anatomy episode). Please stop making unnecessary demands of the trained professional phlebotomist.
3. “I will stop diagnosing myself based on one slightly abnormal lab value.” Google is not a medical degree. Talk to your doctor. We can’t tell you what those labs are for.
4. “I will actually fast when the order says ‘fasting.’” Coffee with cream doesn’t count as fasting. Neither does “just a small breakfast.”
5. “I will stop saying ‘I’m a hard stick’ when I have veins we could hit from across the room.” You have beautiful median cubital veins. You’re not a hard stick. You’re anxious. That’s different, and that’s okay.
6. “I will stop demanding a butterfly needle when I have veins the size of garden hoses.” Butterflies are for difficult sticks, not patient preference when you have a decent sized veins.
7. “I will not bring my entire family into the blood draw room.” Your moral support crew can wait outside. There’s not enough space in here for all six of you.
8. “I will stay still during the draw.” No answering phone calls. No suddenly deciding to reach for your water bottle. Just...stay still for 30 seconds.

But Let’s Talk About Us for a Minute

I could go on and on about the common difficulties we have with our patients, but unfortunately, we’re not perfect either. We have our own bad habits, our own things we need to work on. And if there’s one thing phlebotomists can be really bad at, it’s taking care of ourselves.

Earlier this year in May, I finally made a doctor’s appointment for symptoms that I had been suffering from for several weeks, months even. I had been struggling with some things including a lot of pain, and complete exhaustion constantly. All I wanted to do was sleep all the time. I was taking ibuprofen and Tylenol on a schedule just to try to function through the constant pain in my body.

At first I just figured I had caught some virus and it was just taking some time to get over it. But as weeks went on and I was feeling (much) worse and not better I finally admitted to myself that something was really wrong and I made an appointment for myself–which I rarely do, unless absolutely necessary. I felt like death, and I could barely get out of bed.

Well, it turned out that I developed type 1 diabetes as a 35 year old woman. Imagine my surprise. I was expecting pretty much anything but that. I had no excessive thirst or urination (but I also have hypothyroidism, which can mask symptoms apparently). I was on my way to possible DKA with a fasting blood sugar in the high 350’s, and an A1c of 12.6.

If I had not gone to the doctor myself, I would likely have found myself in the ER at some point, dealing with more serious complications from waiting too long. I got referred to an endocrinologist and started my new life as a diabetic who has to take insulin every day for the rest of my life. It’s been a big change, but I feel much better than I did last spring, and I’m slowly getting the hang of things.

My point is, I know many healthcare workers have the same type of attitude about their own health. We make the worst patients, and try to deal with it ourselves for way too long.

I remember one coworker who didn’t come into the hospital until she was septic and had to be admitted to the ICU due to her refusal to be seen. She thought she would be okay with fluids and rest at home. Her husband finally carried her to the car and drove her to the hospital, and carried her inside. She was shocked to find out she was just hours from dying, and the rest of us all scolded her for not coming in sooner, but realistically, many of us would have done the same thing and tried to tough it out (hopefully not to that extent though).

I remember shifts where I couldn’t recall if I had eaten anything or even sat down that day. I had shifts where I would be so tired afterwards, that I would drive home in complete silence at 4am and not remember actually driving. I had shifts where I for some reason just couldn’t draw blood on a patient who should have been an easy stick (and it still sometimes keeps me up at night wondering what my problem was). I had shifts where we would be slammed and I would stay a few extra hours to help with the workload knowing I was giving up precious sleep by doing so.

I am sure that all of that sounds familiar to many of you. I’m guilty of breaking almost every resolution listed below. I’m still working on it.

While we should maintain pride, integrity, and good ethics in whatever job we have, it’s not good to pour your entire self-worth, energy, and identity into your job. That is something I have struggled with my whole life. If I made a mistake, it wasn’t just a simple “I will do better next time.” It was soul crushing and I took it way too seriously. I have worked a lot on separating myself from my job more, so I can have some peace. And I now have to take care of my health more seriously than I ever have had to before, but I should have been doing that all along the way. Balance is needed.

So while many patients are resolving to drink more water and hit the gym, maybe we should make some resolutions of our own. Real ones. The kind that actually matter for our health and our careers.

Ten Phlebotomy Resolutions for 2026:

1. Stop taking missed sticks personally. You’re going to miss sometimes. Even the best phlebotomists miss. A 95% success rate means you’re missing 1 in 20—that’s just math. One bad stick doesn’t define your skill level, your value, or your career. Let it go and move on to the next patient.
2. Actually take your lunch break. I know the lab is slammed. I know you feel guilty leaving your coworkers. But you can’t function on an empty stomach and three sips of cold coffee from four hours ago. You’re not a martyr for skipping lunch—you’re just setting yourself up to make mistakes when your blood sugar crashes at 2pm. Go eat and take your break! This goes for PTO as well. You’ve earned it. Take it.
3. Stop skipping steps when you’re busy. I get it—when there are 47 people in the waiting room and it’s only 7am, the temptation to rush is real. But skipping looking at both arms, or not cleaning the site properly, or not labeling the tube at the bedside? That’s how mistakes happen. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.
4. Forgive yourself for bad days. Some days, everything goes wrong. You miss an easy stick. A patient passes out. Your equipment malfunctions. You snap at a coworker. It happens. You’re human. Beating yourself up about it doesn’t make you better at your job—it just makes you miserable. Acknowledge it, learn from it if there’s something to learn, and start fresh tomorrow.
5. Ask for help when you need it. There’s no prize for being the phlebotomist who never asks for a second stick. If you’ve tried twice and you’re not getting it, call someone else. It’s not a failure—it’s patient care. And when a coworker asks you for help, don’t make them feel bad about it. We’re a team.
6. Stop ignoring physical pain from repetitive motion. Your hands hurt. Your back hurts. Your shoulders are tight. You tell yourself it’s just part of the job. But carpal tunnel, tendonitis, and chronic back problems aren’t badges of honor—they’re injuries that will end your career if you don’t address them. Stretch. Use proper ergonomics. GO GET A MASSAGE. See a doctor if the pain doesn’t go away. Your body has to last you a lot longer than this shift.
7. Speak up about unsafe equipment or practices. When the needles are limited, when the tubes are expired, when staffing is so short it’s dangerous—say something. Document it. Report it. You’re not being difficult, you’re protecting patients and yourself. Silence doesn’t make you a team player; it makes you complicit when something goes wrong.
8. Stop tolerating disrespect. You don’t have to accept being yelled at, grabbed, or verbally abused—not from patients, not from nurses, not from doctors, not from anyone. You deserve to be treated with basic human dignity. It’s okay to set boundaries. It’s okay to walk away from a verbally abusive patient and ask someone else to handle it. Professionalism doesn’t mean being a punching bag.
9. Invest in your own continuing education. Stay current with standards. Read the updates. Take the CE courses. Attend conferences when you can. The field changes, and you need to change with it. Plus, staying sharp professionally makes you more valuable and more employable. Don’t let your skills stagnate just because you’re busy.
10. Set boundaries. Stop coming in extra early all the time. Stop staying two hours late every single shift because you feel guilty leaving. Stop answering work texts on your day off. Stop volunteering for every extra shift when you’re already exhausted. You don’t owe your employer your entire life. Burnout is real, and it will wreck you if you let it. Boundaries are good. Don’t tie your entire life to your job.

Here’s the Thing:

We spend all day taking care of other people. We calm anxious patients, we find impossible veins, we deal with ridiculous demands, we hold hands, we catch people when they faint, we smile when we’re exhausted. We give everything we have, every single shift.

But who’s taking care of us?

You can’t pour from an empty tube. (Sorry, had to.)

This year, resolve to be as kind to yourself as you are to your patients. Forgive your mistakes. Take your breaks. Ask for help. Set boundaries. Make that doctor’s appointment you have been putting off. Take care of your mental and physical health the same way you take care of everyone else’s health.

And really, you should go get that massage. You deserve it. And honestly? You’ll be better at your job when you’re not running on fumes and undeserved guilt.

Happy New Year. Here’s to 2026—the year we spend a little more time focusing on ourselves. Remember that we matter too.

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