Each month, the Center for Phlebotomy Education posts a survey question inviting readers and visitors to its website and Facebook page to participate, and then publishes the results in the following issue of Phlebotomy Today-STAT! This month, we summarize responses from some of the more intriguing surveys conducted over the past 12 months. Topics include decentralized phlebotomy, butterfly usage, submitting underfilled tubes, following the order of draw, and more. Links are provided to the archived issue of Phlebotomy Today-STAT! that discusses the survey results at length. 

Decentralized phlebotomy

In your facility, is phlebotomy centralized ( i.e., all samples are drawn by laboratory personnel) or decentralized (e.g., majority of samples are drawn by non-laboratory personnel cross-trained to draw blood)?

Centralized: 86%
Decentralized: %15%

Read the complete survey results and commentary.

Policies on ear piercing, body piercing, tattoos, and hair color/styles.

Does your facility have a policy limiting earrings?

Yes: 56%
No: 44%

How many earrings does your facility policy permit?

No earrings are permitted: 2%
No more than one per ear: 29%
No more than two per ear: 46
No more than two for both ears (total): 9%
No more than three per ear: 5%
No more than three for both ears (total)
No more than six for both ears (total): 5%

What types of non-earring piercings are permitted in your facility?

Earrings only: 79
Nostril studs: 17%
Nose rings: 5%
Eyebrows: 6%
Tongue: 11%
Lip: 5%

What limits does your facility policies place on hair color?

Natural hair colors only: 58%
Policy exists, but interpretation is left up to supervisory discretion: 42%

What limits does your facility policies place on hair styles?

Neat, trimmed and groomed: 59%
Policy exists, but interpretation is left up to supervisory discretion: 41%

Does your facility have a policy on the visibility of tattoos?

Yes: 62%
No: 38%

What is your facility's policy on visible tattoos?

All tattoos must be covered: 72%
Minor exposure is permitted: 28%

Read the complete survey results and commentary.

Salary survey

What is your hourly wage or annual salary?

Phlebotomist: $14.80/hour
Phlebotomy supervisor/manager: $19.12/hour
Phlebotomy/laboratory educator in a healthcare facility: 18.74/hour
Phlebotomy/laboratory educator in an academic program: $34.33/hour
Laboratory testing personnel (e.g., MT, CLS, MLT, MLA, MLS, etc): $26.95/hour
Laboratory manager/director/administrator: $104,500

Read the complete survey results and commentary.

Contaminated surfaces

Does your facility designate certain phones, keyboards and touch monitors as "contaminated" requiring staff to wear gloves when using

Yes: 41%
No: 59%

What is your facility's policy on decontaminating phones, keyboards, and touchscreen monitors?

We don't have a policy: 21%
Once per shift: 42%
Daily: 29%
Weekly: 8%
When visibly contaminated: 0% 

Read the complete survey results and commentary.

Pet Peeves

What is it about interacting with some patients that irks you the most?

What kinds of things do your coworkers do that make you cringe?

This survey allowed participants to write their own answers rather than select from a list. While statistics were not tallied, responses (including bad breath, and being called a "vampire") are available here.

The Value of Certification

Are you certified in phlebotomy?

Yes: 76%
No: 24%

For managers, is your phlebotomy staff certified?

No: 0% 
Yes, all are certified in phlebotomy: 31%
Some are certified in phlebotomy: 69%

Do you feel certified phlebotomists perform better than those who are not certified?

Yes: 39%
No: 61%

Read the complete survey results and commentary.

Underfilled tubes

Do you ever submit underfilled tubes for testing?

Yes: 80%
No: 20%

Have you ever had the laboratory reject an underfilled tube you submitted?

Yes: 59%
No: 41%

When a tube doesn't fill, what do you do? (Multiple responses permitted.)

I try another tube of the same color stopper in case the first one lost its vacuum: 96%
I pour two tubes together as long as the stoppers are the same color: 4%
I pour two tubes together to make one full tube regardless of the stopper color. 0%
I submit the tube to the lab and let them decide if it should be rejected: 58%

Read the complete survey results and commentary.

Gauze or cotton?

What type of compress do you use to apply post-venipuncture pressure, (i.e., gauze or cotton balls)?

Clean gauze: 70%
Sterile gauze: 21%
Clean cotton balls: 8%
Sterile cotton balls: 1%

How you store them prior to use?

They are individually wrapped: 13%
They are in an opened sleeve or container that contains multiple pieces: 64%
They are in a closed sleeve or container that contains multiple pieces:23%

How long do you watch the site for bleeding before you bandage?

I don't lift up the compress in case the puncture is not sealed. I just put the bandage on immediately without looking: 2%
I lift the compress up momentarily. If it doesn't bleed immediately, I put it back and bandage over it: 20%
I lift the compress and watch for at least five seconds before bandaging: 62%

Read the complete survey results and commentary.

Hand hygiene

Do you routinely conduct some form of hand hygiene between patients?

Yes: 97%
No: 3%

Which type of hand hygiene do you perform most frequently?

Soap and water: 29%
Alcohol-based hand gel: 63%
Other: 8%

Read the complete survey results and commentary.

Following the Order of Draw

Are you aware blood-collection tubes must be filled in a certain order?

Yes: 98%
No: 2%

How confident are you that you know what the proper order of draw is for venipunctures?

Very confident: 88%
Somewhat confident: 12%

Is there a separate order of draw when using a syringe instead of a tube holder?

Yes: 22%
No: 67%
Not sure: 11%

How frequently do you follow the order of draw as you know it?

Always, without fail: 80%
Usually: 11%
Not sure: 9%

Read the complete survey results and commentary.

Butterfly usage

How frequently do you use butterfly sets to draw blood samples?

I never use butterflies: 2%
Fewer than five times per week: 34%
Once per day: 6%
2-5 times a day: 26%
6-10 times a day: 13%
11-20 times a day: 13%
More than 20 times a day: 4%
Other or comment: 12%

How do you respond to patients who request a butterfly be used for their draw?

I honor their request no matter what: 49%
I honor their request only if their veins require one: 50%
If their veins don't require one I will find another phlebotomist who wants to use one: 1%

Read the complete survey results and commentary.

Infant heelsticks

What type of device do you usually use when performing infant heelsticks?

An incision device that slices the tissue: 39%
A puncture device that penetrates the tissue vertically: 49%–
I don't know: 11%

Does your facility have a policy limiting the number of heelsticks that can be performed on an infant?

Yes: 28%
No: 47%
Don't know: 25%

How frequently do you prewarm infant's heels prior to a heelstick?

Always: 74%
Frequently: 11%
Never: 15%

When you perform a heelstick, do you "double-stick" (i.e., make two simultaneous punctures/incisions initially)?

Yes, always: 1%
Sometimes: 11%
Never: 88%

Read the complete survey results and commentary.

Supernatural Phenomenon

Have you ever experienced any incident or event in your work as a healthcare professional that could only be explained as being miraculous or of a supernatural or spiritual nature?

Yes: 8%
No: 92%

Read the commentary here.

Continuing education

Do you regularly participate in a formal continuing education exercise in phlebotomy (i.e., one that measures comprehension of the exercise material)?

Yes: 76%
No:24%

How frequently?

Monthly: 48%
Annually: 53%

Who purchases/provides your continuing education?

I do: 54%
My employer: 46%

What is the primary source from which you obtain (or distribute to your staff) formal and informal continuing education (i.e., with and without CE credit)?

Center for Phlebotomy Education (phlebotomy.com): 27%
My certification agency: 18%
ASCLS: 9%
MediaLab (Lab CE): 6%
Healthstream: 12%
Product vendors: 6%
Continuing Education Unlimited (CEU inc): 33%
Original material is created and distributed internally: 6%
I don't know: 12%

Read the complete survey results and commentary.

Lawmakers

If you could make a law affecting everyone who draws blood from patients, what would it be?

If you could make a law affecting every patient from whom you draw blood, what would it be?

This survey allowed participants to propose their own legislation in a text window. Even though no statistics are tallied by this method, responses are available here.

Links to prior issues of Phlebotomy Today-STAT! that summarized earlier surveys: 2010-2011, 2012 (part 1), 2012 (part 2), 2013, 2014. 

Is there a survey you'd like us to conduct? Let us know.