Venipuncture
What is the maximum amount of time a tourniquet can remain on a patient's arm?
1 minute
What is the best finger(s) to perform a finger stick on?
3rd/4th finger on nondominant hand
What is the correct angle for a standard venipucture?
15-30 degrees
What is the area on the arm called where you should first palpitate for a vein?
Antecubital area
True or False: Povidone-iodine should not be used for cleansing a dermal puncture site.
True
For what age is a dermal puncture preferable to a venipuncture?
<1 year old
True or False: It is OK to use your thumb to palpitate for a vein.
False
What are the names of the best sites for a heel stick?
Medial or lateral side of the plantar surface of the heel
Where are needles, lancets, etc disposed of?
Biohazard sharps containers
A technician prepares a patient for a venipuncture. She rubs the area she plans to perform the procedure on with an alcohol wipe and waits a few seconds. She loses track of the vein she was about to stick, so she re-palpitates and finds it again. She then performs the venipuncture. What did she do wrong?
She didn't re-cleanse after palpitating
A technician comes into a patient's room to perform a finger stick. He observes that the patient's fingers are cyanotic and cold. He charts this and then gets the equipment to perform the finger stick. Is he correct in doing this?
No
A technician is going to perform a venipuncture on a patient. She knows that the patient has historically small and difficult to access veins. What type of needle will the technician want to use on a patient like this?
Butterfly needle/winged infusion device
A technician is about to perform a venipuncture on a patient who is receiving an IV blood transfusion on his right arm. The technician has all the necessary equipment and has the patient in a comfortable position for the procedure. After he fails to find a suitable vein anywhere on the left arm, he decides to perform the venipuncture on the right arm. He draws blood from below the IV site. Did the technician do anything wrong?
No
A technician is ordered to perform a heel stick on a 7-month-old infant. She positions the infant supine and starts warming the heel for ~3 minutes. She then cleanses the puncture site and uses a lancet to make the puncture. She immediately puts the tube under the site so it can fill. After she has filled the tube, she caps it and applies pressure using gauze to stop any further bleeding. What did she forget to do?
Wipe away the first drop of blood
A technician is looking at a patient's chart that she just got assigned. She finds that they have a condition called iatrogenic anemia. What does this mean?
The patient had a RBC/hemoglobin deficiency, likely from repeated blood collections