This program will address important issues that phlebotomists, phlebotomy managers, phlebotomy educators, and other patient care staff face daily. The conference format balances topic of general interest, which are presented in large group sessions, with specific collection and management issues addressed in small breakout sessions. A strong component of this course is the dynamic arena of effective workplace communication and problem solving. Several key presentations will focus on understanding how commonly accepted management practices actually produce low performance, learn from what other medical professional groups are doing to define and assess professionalism, discover the discipline of creative survival in the dynamics of the everyday work-place, develop service recovery skills during difficult collections and for redraw collections, and recognize common causes of needle stick injuries among phlebotomists.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of the conference, participants should be able to:

• Recognize the changes in inspection approaches by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and the College of American Pathologists (CAP)
• Describe basic principles of Lean production
• Explain human elements in performing patient identification
• Identify ways to adapt the actual learned techniques of applying heat and using a double tourniquet to assist with performing difficult collections in the venipuncture process
• Identify factors that result in a reduction of redraws
• Describe strategies for dealing with conflict
• Recommend different managerial styles for dealing with problematic situations
• Implement techniques to help prevent collection errors
• Explain ways to avoid liability
• Recognize accountability and responsibility in training

Disclaimer

Attendance at this Mayo conference does not indicate nor guarantee competence or proficiency in the performance of any procedures that may be discussed or taught in this course.

Intended Audience

This program is designed for phlebotomists, phlebotomy supervisors, and other patient care staff involved in specimen collection.

Date and Location

The Phlebotomy Essentials for Success conference will be held March 15–16, 2007. Conference headquarters will be located in the foyer of Leighton Auditorium, Harold W. Siebens Medical Education Building, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota (view maps).

 

                               

 

Credit

Mayo Medical Laboratories is approved as a provider of continuing education programs in the Clinical Laboratory Sciences by the ASCLS P.A.C.E.® program. This program has been approved for 12 contact hours. Level of instruction for this program is intermediate.

Mayo Medical Laboratories is approved as a Continuing Education Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Science for State of California credit and State of Florida credit.

A record of attendance for 12 contact hours will be provided to attendees.

Breakout Sessions

Ten breakout sessions will be offered during this conference. The following topics, covering specific collection and management issues, will be offered. You can attend four of the ten.

Collection Errors: Consequences and Outcomes

Patient test results are only as good as the specimen provided. This session will talk about common errors that can happen at the collection site. What are the downstream affects for the patient? A case study will be presented and what the phlebotomist could have done differently will be discussed.

Conflict: Taming the Beast Within

Conflict among individuals is natural, but can be uncomfortable. This session will help you anticipate potential conflict and will describe strategies for dealing with others. Tips and tools will be suggested to assist you in managing conflict successfully.

How the Vascular Access Team Went Lean–A Supervisor’s Story

This session will include a basic introduction to lean production, identify the best methods to select work unit lean teams, and review a supervisor’s personal experience in implementing lean projects.

Inspection Readiness–Living a Quality System

The days of announced inspections have passed. The movement to unannounced inspections presents challenges and opportunities. This breakout session will touch on how living a quality system will produce positive results for those you serve as well as satisfy the accreditation and regulatory requirements.

Liability and Phlebotomy

A patient asks you to assist him/her out of the chair and into the bed before you start the phlebotomy procedure. What do you do? You are a phlebotomist in an outpatient clinic, you call the patient into the drawing room and notice that he/she appears anxious and apprehensive, is perspiring, and looks pale. What do you do? You are part of the phlebotomy management team at a midsize medical center. You receive a call from a phlebotomist stating that he/she feels that a patient was injured during a routine phlebotomy blood draw. What do you do? The word liability tends to conjure up feelings of despair and stress. In this session, we will discuss past case studies in order to better understand the relationship between phlebotomy and liability. We will also discuss ways to avoid liability as well as what to do when an incident occurs.

Oh Baby, Baby: Born too Soon

Blood loss is the primary cause of anemia in preterm infants during the first weeks of life, which may result in blood transfusions. This session will deal with how to avoid unnecessary blood transfusions by reducing overdraws and redraws in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

Phlebotomy Hide and Seek: Finding the Elusive Vein

This breakout session will provide different methods for obtaining a sample from a difficult venipuncture, including hands-on demonstrations.

Reducing the Risk of Error

Performing positive patient identification prior to collecting a patient’s blood specimen is critical to quality patient care. It is one of the most important steps in a phlebotomist’s job and is recognized as a manual complex human process that has a high risk for human error. Exploring the human element piece in performing patient identification can help us understand why patient identification errors may occur and can lead management toward a system that will reduce the possibility for errors and improve collection accuracy.

Question and Answer: Interactive Session for Discussing Creative Solutions to Challenging Phlebotomy Concerns

Presenters will include: Phlebotomy Supervisors, Operations Manager, Trainer, Quality Assurance, and Human Resources. Come to this discussion prepared to share positive ideas and best practices for solving common issues. This session will explore different managerial styles for dealing with problematic situations.

What is Required to be an Effective Trainer?

This presentation is designed for trainers and potential trainers and will review various responsibilities and processes related to teaching and training. The content will include verbal, nonverbal, and hands-on techniques. The presentation will also describe types of training methods available as well as characteristics of a trainer. During the session, the trainer will discuss many personal training experiences.

Tours

Six tours will be offered during this conference. When registering, you can choose three of the following:

• Central Clinical Laboratory (High-Volume Core Laboratory)
• Community Medicine Multifunctional/Outpatient
• Inpatient (High Volume, 1,157 beds)
• Mayo Medical Laboratories Reference Laboratory
• Outpatient (High Volume)
• Outpatient/Inpatient (794 beds)