Inventive
Phlebotomist Creates Order of Draw Bracelets to Wear as a Reminder
Like
other areas of clinical laboratory operations, phlebotomy must
perform flawlessly. That’s particularly true because phlebotomy
is often the only point of contact a patient has with the laboratory.
Phlebotomy has its own complexities which often take a dedicated
phlebotomist years to master. That’s why a clever new invention
may be of interest to clinical laboratory managers and phlebotomists
everywhere.
The invention is called the order
of draw bracelet. These bracelets are created with brightly
colored beads to remind phlebotomists of the appropriate order
of draw for Vacutainer/Syringe draws. The beads come in a variety
of types and sizes, and the bracelets are appropriate for both
women and men.
Pam VandeDrink, a Phelbotomist for Laboratory
Corporation of America, came up with the idea for order of
draw bracelets when she was a student at Boston
Reed College in Napa, CA. She witnessed a little girl beading
pipe cleaners and plastic beads to match the order of draw colors
in her textbook. “At the time, I was trying to use a color
story that I had taught myself as a memory device for the order
of draw colors,” said VandeDrink. “The bracelet became
a much faster, easier, and more visible way for me to remember.”
In manufacturing the order of draw bracelets, VandeDrink keeps
the materials she uses modest so that the cost of the bracelets
is low. That’s because students and newly-trained phlebotomists
often do not have much money coming out of school. However, VandeDrink
plans to launch a “fancier” version of the bracelet
for more established phlebotomists in the future.
Order of draw bracelets are becoming popular with phlebotomy instructors,
who purchase them as graduation gifts for their students. Fletcher
Allen Health Center in Burlington, VT “bought the order
of draw bracelets for our team of 44 phlebotomy staff, both inpatient
and outpatient,” according to Lynn Bryan of Fletcher Allen.
“We partner in training students from the University
of Vermont Laboratory Sciences program and the bracelets really
help as a visual aid for the students.”
Dark Daily wanted to recognize VandeDrink for her invention and
her entrepreneurial spirit. VandeDrink's order of draw bracelet
is the kind of low-tech, high value idea that simplifies a complex
process and improves quality of care. Clinical laboratories are
always looking for solutions and opportunities to improve quality
and benefit patients. Order of draw bracelets are certainly a
cost-effective solution to the further reduction of phlebotomy
errors. It’s not surprising that labs like Fletcher Allen
are making them available to their entire phlebotomy staff.
PS: Dark Daily is always interested in the clever
management ideas and inventions that generate great benefit in
clinical laboratory operations. Feel free to contact us with your
laboratory’s innovations and successes.
PPS: One hospital which has achieved a zero error
rate for patient identification with lab-managed phlebotomists
is Ingalls Memorial
Hospital in Harvey, IL. Marilyn Nelson, Director of Laboratories
at Ingalls, will be at the Executive
War College on May 10-11 to share how this was achieved, using
a tightly-integrated informatics system that cues phlebotomists
at the time of the draw, then guides the specimens directly into
the lab and onto the analyzers. Full details on Nelson's presentation
can be found at http://www.executivewarcollege.com/agenda.htm.
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