There is a plethora of online schools for those aspiring to become phlebotomists. While there are schools that claim they are accredited phlebotomy technician specialist online schools, it is crucial that you ensure their accreditation comes from the NAACLS, or the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences.

NAACLS accreditation, especially for courses offered online, is crucial because certifying bodies like the National Phlebotomy Association (NPA), American Society of Phlebotomy Technicians (ASPT) and American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) prefer candidates to have completed phlebotomy programs endorsed by NAACLS. NAACLS ensures that the programs available to students are aligned with the requirements of certifying agencies so students need not acquire clinical training outside of the program. This saves students time and resources.

At present, there are 59 NAACLS accredited phlebotomy schools across the United States and they partner with institutions and organizations that offer an online version of the course. It also helps that the campus itself is NAACLS accredited because then all hands-on training aligns with certifying requirements of the National Phlebotomy Association (NPA), American Society of Phlebotomy Technicians (ASPT) and American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP).

Should students enroll in non-accredited online courses, they may need to satisfy a long-list of alternate requirements set forth by the certifying bodies. For example, in the absence of an NAACLS- accredited phlebotomy training, applicants must complete classroom hours and clinical hours to be considered eligible to sit in for the NPA, ASPT or ASCP exams. Other non-NAACLS programs online may even need to be supplemented with 100 unaided blood collections for students to be considered eligible to take certifying exams.

Online courses for phlebotomy training are a popular way to earn certification these days. After all, academic units can always be learned via distance learning, whereas hands-on training can be completed in partner campuses (which is why it is also important to seek online courses who can direct students to partner campuses nearby). Since phlebotomy requires intensive hands-on training for blood collection to be efficiently performed, it is important to have convenient access to on-campus equipment. As much as accredited phlebotomy technician specialist online schools open portals to distance learning, they are also rich sources of information about ‘offline’ schools and what these schools offer by way of actual or clinical training.

Depending on who awards the certification – the National Phlebotomy Association (NPA), American Society of Phlebotomy Technicians (ASPT) and American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) –certification costs can range from $100-$200. Certificate renewals often cost $50-$75, and reinstate fee (after certificates were suspended) typically cost around $175.

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There is significant difference between a phlebotomist for adult patients and a phlebotomist for infants or young children. For example, collecting blood from adult patients often requires venipuncture (an incision in the vein), whereas collecting blood from younger patients and infants only require finger or heel prick. The challenge however is not in the process of specimen collection, but in the psychology of the patient. An adult is easily eased into what otherwise is an uncomfortable (and even traumatic) process, while children are often scared of the entire procedure and of the prospect of experiencing pain while the procedure is performed. This means that pediatric phlebotomists have to deal with resistant movements from patients, making it that more difficult to locate the right area to draw blood from.

Hospitals with large pediatric or neonatal units may require that their phlebotomists specialize in young patient care. However, this may rarely be the case. Even in such settings, a phlebotomist may be more of a generalist, collecting blood from patients of all ages.  Hence, it is important to be equally flexible as each age group has special needs and differing attitude towards needles.

Moreover, a phlebotomist who is well-trained in handling adult and young patients may find it easy to transition from one employer to another as most of these employers very rarely focus on pediatric or neonatal care alone. While it helps to be accommodating with young patients, it is to the advantage of the professional to be equally skilled in handling adult patients.

Such skills are acquired through continuing education as required by certifying agencies. A practicing professional may want to undergo training for all age groups since employers may want specific training in a certain area. Although accrediting bodies like the National Phlebotomy Association (NPA), American Society of Phlebotomy Technicians (ASPT) and American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) only issue a ‘general practice’ certificate, those who want to learn how to become an phlebotomy tech for children – phlebotomy technician specialist can earn citation in pediatric/neonatal care, as this is usually awarded to those who have completed the corresponding program.

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As a result, phlebotomists in select hospitals have started using wireless tablets and handheld printers to streamline paperwork that usually eats up a good portion of their shift. This enables them to print at patient bedside doctors’ orders for blood sample, patient statistics and other routine procedures. Apparently, this new phlebotomy technology – phlebotomy goes wireless is not only a timesaver, it also boosts patient satisfaction of the entire procedure.

There is more. Apart from cutting down paperwork and eliminating redundancies, this new technology also allows phlebotomists to send updates to the main laboratory computer, which in turn informs the phlebotomist onsite if there are any additional blood samples that need to be collected from a patient. From a patient’s perspective, this means that blood drawing can be reduced to a single session which reduces anxiety and stress.

From the hospital’s point of view, the staff hours dedicated to doing paperwork has been reportedly reduced. This means that overall, hospitals are utilizing phlebotomists’ time to actual blood collection work. Labor-wise, this means fewer needs for phlebotomists since the same number of them have more time to dedicate to blood drawing. This will also make hospitals more responsive to sudden fluctuations of blood orders. By using wireless technology and data digitalization, phlebotomist staffing can also be done with ease, such that additional manpower can be deployed to departments that are short-handed at certain periods.

The use of these wireless gadgets and portable printers has even sparked curiosity among hospital staff. The entire procedure is thought of as a novelty, but actual phlebotomists who have started migrating to this digital system reports overall satisfaction in the new-established routine. Paperwork and adjunct responsibilities that had nothing to do with blood collecting have been greatly reduced, and phlebotomists are now more focused on building expertise on actual procedures and making the experience for the patient as convenient as possible.

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This development came out of a research that associated humans’ color vision evolution to the ability to perceive social signals from the same human species through changes in the levels of oxygen in their blood. These changes in turn can be seen through the skin. The research posits that early human ancestors who passed this predisposition to modern humans had to be perceptive when it comes to discriminating changes in the moods or physiology of other beings of the same species. This contributed to the ancient human’s ability to survive by identifying aggression and similar emotions from possible threats.

This natural ability has not been lost to modern humans, but only weakened. As this discovery was made, researchers realized that this could have immense implications in the field of medicine where accurate evaluation of a patient’s physiology could prove life-saving. In phlebotomy, the ability to see vasculature non-invasively is a huge step forward in making the procedure more patient-friendly. What better way to ease patient anxiety than to tell them that you can see their veins through their skin?

The result of this discovery is oxygen-monitoring glasses that could do three things: find veins, detect hemoglobin concentration (as what happens in trauma) and aid medical professionals in clinical setting so they are better able to evaluate the internal condition of the patient. 

Phlebotomists will be interested useing the vein-finder oxygenation-isolator glasses.

These “oxy-iso glasses”, as they are called, enable phlebotomists to see veins through the skin, which is crucial among patients whose veins cannot be easily located (as in the case of obese patients). When these oxygen-amplifier glasses are used, phlebotomists could see the veins glow under the skin, thus enabling them to make quick scans of the vasculature and decide where to make a venipuncture. This will tremendously improve patient experience in terms of the blood collection procedure. Phlebotomists are no longer left to intelligently guess where to ‘stab’ the patient for a blood draw. (Multiple punctures are always the bane of patients, sometimes to the trauma of young children and infants.)

Seeing through the skin – new phlebotomy technology also has promising applications in the field of security, social relationships and even gambling. But researchers are hopeful that these high-tech glasses (which are presently being tested in various clinical settings) would instead save lives than aid the user win a poker game.

Seeing Through the Skin – New Phlebotomy Technology - Get Started with a Phlebotomy Career Now!