Phlebotomist

Kansas Health System; Westwood (KS); On-site; USD 25,000 - 33,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of Kansas Health System is seeking a Phlebotomist to join the clinical laboratory. The role requires accurate interpretation of orders from providers in the HIS and manual orders, proper patient identification, and adherence to safety standards.

Ambulatory and inpatient duties include preparing specimens, labeling, and coordinating with Labr Leadership. The position supports quality assurance and customer service for laboratory customers.

Responsibilities

• Performs blood draws by venipuncture according to standard protocol, ensuring patient safety and quality specimen collection.
• Performs specimen collection using appropriate techniques and adheres to requirements; provides patients and/or care providers with instructions and necessary materials for collection.
• Provides immediate patient care if post-venipuncture reaction occurs (e.g., vasovagal).
• Proactively assesses patient presentation and escorts patient to the draw room as needed for adolescents/young adults or patients with reactions to blood draws.
• Performs data entry in applicable information systems in compliance with policies.
• Demonstrates knowledge of specimen collection techniques and requirements.
• Ensures proper container type, centrifugation, and transport conditions; determines suitability of specimens for add-on testing.
• Releases orders for ambulatory patients with orders in HIS; receives samples in LIS and prints/affixes bar code labels.
• Enters outside orders in LIS when copies are scanned into HIS; consults Phlebotomy Coordinator or Lab Leadership when needed.
• Provides assistance to nursing staff when requested; performs pre-analytical processing such as aliquoting urine and separating blood samples as required.
• Understands pre-analytical variables affecting results (container type, time, temperature, centrifugation, labeling) and determines addon testing feasibility.
• Responds to telephone inquiries and provides customer service to laboratory customers; assists with troubleshooting.
• Instructs, orients and mentors students and staff as applicable; manages requisitions and answers calls.
• Maintains adequate inventory of supplies; may cover at alternate locations to meet staffing needs.

Job description

Phlebotomist

Days - Full Time

Westwood Medical Pavilion - West

Position Summary / Career Interest

M - F 8:30am - 5pm

The University of Kansas Health System Phlebotomist is a position within the clinical laboratory that is responsible for interpreting orders for lab work from providers within The University of Kansas Health System which are entered in the Hospital Information System and orders from outside providers that are presented as a manual order. The Phlebotomist must be able to interpret these orders and accurately identify the correct tube type for each test.

The Phlebotomist follows regulatory, accreditation, safety and hospital standards, policies and procedures, and performs positive patient identification for each patient prior to blood draw and confirming patient identification after labeling the tubes. In the ambulatory setting, the Phlebotomist presents labeled tubes to the patient to confirm proper labeling. In the in-patient setting, the Phlebotomist matches the labeled tubes with the patient’s wristband.

The Phlebotomist understands the importance of all pre-analytical variables such as positive patient identification, correct tube types, specimen conditions and integrity and how they affect laboratory results, and participates in quality assurance and quality improvement activities. The Phlebotomist releases orders out of the Hospital Information System (HIS) and receives specimens in the Laboratory Information System (LIS); and processes specimens to include centrifugation, aliquoting urine and pouring off plasma or serum if necessary for testing.

The Phlebotomist is considered the "face" of the clinical laboratory and is expected to represent the laboratory and themselves in a professional, respectful and courteous manner at all times. The Phlebotomist follows AIDET guidelines for customer service and patient satisfaction.

Additionally, the Phlebotomist working in the ambulatory setting must prepare specimens for transport by scanning the bar-coded sample onto a LIS packing list. The Phlebotomist must be able to troubleshoot difficult orders and assist with troubleshooting missing specimens when indicated. This position performs some data entry functions, manages requisitions and answers telephones to assist Laboratory customers. The Phlebotomist must be patient focused and capable of multi-tasking in a fast-paced environment.

Responsibilities and Essential Job Functions

• Performs blood draws by venipuncture according to standard protocol, ensuring patient safety and quality specimen collection.
• Performs specimen collection using appropriate techniques and adhering to requirements. Provides patients and/or care providers with instructions and necessary materials for specimen collection
• Provides immediate patient care if patient exhibits sign of a post-venipuncture reaction, typically vaso-vagal.
• Pro-actively assesses patient presentation and escorts patient to draw room with recliner if patient is an adolescent or young adult or states that they typically have a reaction to having their blood drawn.
• Performs data entry in applicable information systems in compliance with departmental and organizational policies
• Demonstrates knowledge of specimen collection techniques and requirements.
• Ensures proper container type, centrifugation, and transport conditions for specimens. Able to determine appropriateness of specimens for add-on testing.
• Releases orders on ambulatory health system patients with orders in HIS
• Receives samples in LIS, prints bar code labels and affixes labels to specimens. Enters outside orders in LIS when copy of outside order is scanned into HIS.
• Consults Phlebotomy Coordinator, Supervisor or Lab Leadership when appropriate if situation requires assistance
• Provides assistance to nursing staff when requested.
• Performs specimen processing duties such as aliquoting urine and separating blood samples when required for testing.
• Understands pre-analytical variables that can impact test results: Container Type, Time, Temperature, Centrifugation, labeling. Able to determine appropriateness of specimens for addon testing
• Responds to telephone inquiries and provides customer service to the end caller by addressing their needs and troubleshooting.
• Instructs, orients and mentors students, employees, patients and other health care providers as applicable.
• Maintains an adequate inventory of supplies
• Other duties as assigned which may include NP, oral, or nasal swab collections with appropriate PPE.
• May be expected to provide coverage at alternate locations to help meet critical staffing level needs, as requested by management.
• Must be able to perform the professional, clinical and or technical competencies of the assigned unit or department.

These statements are intended to describe the essential functions of the job and are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities. Skills and duties may vary dependent upon your department.