How Can You Keep Your Patients Calm When Drawing Blood?
Do you work in the medical profession?
Becoming a physician or nurse can be a fulfilling and exciting experience. It can also be extremely challenging, especially when dealing with nervous patients. After all, a lot of people experience a tremendous amount of anxiety at the thought of going to the doctor and getting a shot.
When it comes to drawing blood, it’s important to understand how to put your patient at ease. This is obviously easier said than done. Fortunately, this article can help. Here we take a look at tips for traveling physicians on how to draw blood will be as pleasant as possible for everyone involved. Keep reading to learn more.
Smile
One of the keys to putting a patient at ease before you draw blood is to look as friendly as possible. That’s why it’s so important to smile. It really doesn’t take much. Smiling as you say hello and ask them about their day is easy and instantly helps take their mind off what you’re doing.
Keep in mind that almost every patient will be nervous around needles, but it’s hard to be as nervous when someone is smiling at you.
Show Confidence
Traveling physicians are medical professionals, right? Being a professional means you know what you’re doing. This should give you a lot of confidence. Thus you should let your body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice reflect your confidence.
The simple truth is that when a doctor or nurse looks and sounds confident, it helps the patient understand they are in good hands. This will allow them to relax until you’re done drawing their blood.
Communicate With Each Patient
The best strategy for interacting with a patient is to walk them through each step of the process. After all, medical procedures, even something as simple as giving blood, can be a bit mysterious and scary.
Chatting with them about what you’re doing as you’re doing it is a great way to remove the mystery. This way they won’t feel blindsided. It also helps them feel like you respect them enough to include them in the process.
Keep in mind that you don’t need to get overly detailed or descriptive as you work, but walking them through the procedure and showing them exactly what you’re doing each step of the way can go a long way toward reducing any anxiety that might have.
Don’t Get In a Hurry
There’s no reason to rush through the process of taking blood from your patients. In fact, getting in a hurry could make them extra nervous.
The key is to greet them with friendly chatter, take your time preparing your equipment, ask them whether or not they’ve given blood before, and explain what you’re going to do.
It’s also important to remember that slowing down and taking your time is the best way to avoid making mistakes. This is especially true for traveling physicians who are dealing with extremely anxious patients.
Remind Patients to Breathe
When patients are nervous, they tend to stop breathing. This typically increases their anxiety. After all, their body won’t be able to remain calm if it’s not receiving the proper amount of oxygen.
Failing to breathe while giving blood could also cause the patient to pass out due to a lack of oxygen reaching the brain.
That’s why it’s important to sit with the patient, smile at them, help them understand what you’re preparing to do, and encourage them to breathe normally until you’re finished.
Keep in mind that many patients in this type of situation simply forget to breathe because they are so focused on needles, the thought of blood, and potential pain, that they simply forget to breathe because they want so badly for the experience to be over with as quickly as possible.
Encourage Patients to Drink Water
Get in the habit of offering your patients a bottle of water. This serves several purposes.
First, it gives them something to do with their free hand, which helps reduce involuntary twitching. It also gives something to think about other than the needle you are putting in their arm. Driving water while giving blood will also help keep saliva flowing so that they don’t get a dry mouth.
There’s also just something comforting about holding a cool bottle of water that can help reduce anxiety.
Answer Their Questions
Many patients will have questions about what you’re doing. Always answer these questions as openly and honestly as possible.
Give Patients Time to Warm Up
Is it cold outside? If so, give your patient a few minutes to warm up before taking blood. This will help their nerves settle and allow the blood to flow better.
Pay Attention to Their Body Language
It’s not difficult to tell when a patient is nervous. The key is to watch their body language and proceed accordingly. Keep in mind that every patient is different, thus you will need to adjust your process to make sure that each person feels as comfortable as possible.
Keeping Patients Calm While Drawing Blood
As a healthcare professional, there’s nothing more important than ensuring that every patient receives the treatment needed to keep them as healthy as possible. Fortunately, this guide to tips on how to draw blood will help make your job a little easier.
Please contact us today to learn how to pursue a career as a mobile phlebotomist.