Phlebotomy Technician

Hours: 100 / Access Length: 12 Months / Delivery: Online, Mentor Supported
Retail Price: $945.00

Course Overview:

This course will prepare the student to become a certified phlebotomy technician, who will work in a clinical laboratory environment and healthcare setting. Students will acquire understand the knowledge to work in clinical medical labs and pass the AMCA certification exam as a phlebotomy technician. The course will give the basic understanding of all CLIA guidelines for collecting and handling a variety of blood and tissues samples to process in-house or outside labs. Course focuses on topics of basic anatomy and medical terminology, infection control, and procedures necessary to appropriately collect laboratory specimens and communicate with patients, HIPPA and Legal Issues in the healthcare.  

Students will:

• Explain basic anatomy and physiology of the circulatory system.                                              
• Define “standard precautions” and apply its principles to all procedures.
• Practice the use of medical terminology relating to the circulatory system.
• List methods of client and specimen identification.
• Describe proper bedside manner and how to prepare the client for venipuncture collection.        
• Identify locations on the human body appropriate for venipuncture collection.
• List the different colors used to code blood specimens and what they stand for.                       
• Outline post-puncture care of the client.
• List potential pre-analytical sources of specimen error.
• Explain the potential risks and complications of the venipuncture procedure.
• Describe the role of quality assurance in the practice of phlebotomy.
• Discuss the scope of practice of the Certified Phlebotomy Technician.
• Outline the process of application for State certification.

Upon completion of the course, the student will be prepared to take the AMCA Phlebotomy Technician certification exam.

The AMCA recommends a minimum of 30 venipunctures and 10 capillaries, upon completion of a clinical program. The laws and regulations pertaining to minimum requirements and the allied health industry vary by state. It is highly recommended that test candidates familiarize themselves with their particular state’s rules and regulations regarding certification requirements.

Course Outline:

Lesson 1: Phlebotomy, the Health-Care Delivery System, and The Clinical Laboratory

The first course of the course focuses on the science of phlebotomy as it has been around since the Egyptian times. Within this lesson, students will gain an understanding of what a phlebotomist does and why these professionals are important to the medical profession. Students will also gain an understanding of the purpose of a clinical laboratory and why handling specimens must be done with care. 

Lesson 2: Safety and Infection Control

Handling specimens in a lab, in-transit from an exam room to a depository, or the disposal of instruments when collecting specimens requires great care. In this lesson, students will learn about different hazards they must be aware of when collecting samples. A select few of these hazards include biological, sharp, radioactive, and chemical. Hazards that medical professionals face have varying levels of danger but the wellness of themselves, the patients they serve, and others must always be top of mind.

Lesson 3: Basic Medical Terminology, Anatomy, and Physiology of the Circulatory System

The third lesson of the course provides students an opportunity to strengthen their vocabulary and gain knowledge on key terms and concepts that are commonly used in Phlebotomy. As one works through the lesson, this will an opportunity to learn more about the basic anatomy and physiology of the human body. Students should take note that the circulatory system is dependent on a number of other body systems in order to function properly.

Lesson 4: Fundamentals of Venipunctures

One of the most common methods to obtain samples to conduct proper testing of the circulatory system is through venipunctures. Students will gain knowledge of best practices to conduct venipunctures in different environments. In most cases, these are done in an exam room but can also be done bedside. Additionally, students will gain knowledge of what types of personal protection equipment (PPE) that are required in order to collect samples correctly and the equipment needed to conduct said tests. 

Lesson 5: Specimen Collections

The fifth lesson of the course provides students an opportunity to learn about specimens that are collected from patients. To begin, one will learn about different types of specimen collection as all have various levels of priority and targeted outcomes. It is important to note that specimen collections can be as simple as sticking in a needle and pulling out blood and plasma or more complex where arteries are purged. Above anything, phlebotomists must be careful of committing errors when obtaining samples so that patients don't have to get multiple samples drawn unnecessarily.

Lesson 6: Point-of-Care Testing

Obtaining samples from patients can be done from anywhere in truth. As mentioned in the text, "Point-of-care testing (POCT), previously referred to as alternate site testing (AST), near-patient testing, decentralized testing, bedside testing, or ancillary testing, is the performance of laboratory tests at the patient’s location rather than in a central laboratory. POCT is particularly beneficial to patient care in the critical care or intensive care unit, operating suites, emergency department (ED), or neonatal intensive care unit" (p. 355). Students will also gain knowledge on quality management and control of specimens which is critical to obtaining accurate results for patients.

Lesson 7: Additional Duties of the Phlebotomist, Ethical, and Legal Issues

The final lesson of the course will have students review additional duties that students are likely to do as a phlebotomist outside of obtaining samples from patients. Some of these duties include collections of other different types of a specimen and using laboratory computing equipment. Since phlebotomists are handing some of the most important specimens that are used to lead to determine courses of action and cures, one must be cognizant of ethical and legal issues that can come up too. 

All necessary course materials are included.

Certification Exam(s):

Upon completion of the course, the student will be prepared to take the AMCA Phlebotomy Technician certification exam.

The AMCA recommends a minimum of 30 venipunctures and 10 capillaries, upon completion of a clinical program. The laws and regulations pertaining to minimum requirements and the allied health industry vary by state. It is highly recommended that test candidates familiarize themselves with their particular state’s rules and regulations regarding certification requirements.

System Requirements:

Internet Connectivity Requirements:

• Cable, Fiber, DSL, or LEO Satellite (i.e. Starlink) internet with speeds of at least 10mb/sec download and 5mb/sec upload are recommended for the best experience.

NOTE: While cellular hotspots may allow access to our courses, users may experience connectivity issues by trying to access our learning management system.  This is due to the potential high download and upload latency of cellular connections.   Therefore, it is not recommended that students use a cellular hotspot as their primary way of accessing their courses.

Hardware Requirements:

• CPU: 1 GHz or higher
• RAM: 4 GB or higher
• Resolution: 1280 x 720 or higher.  1920x1080 resolution is recommended for the best experience.
• Speakers / Headphones
• Microphone for Webinar or Live Online sessions.

Operating System Requirements:

• Windows 7 or higher.
• Mac OSX 10 or higher.
• Latest Chrome OS
• Latest Linux Distributions
  

NOTE: While we understand that our courses can be viewed on Android and iPhone devices, we do not recommend the use of these devices for our courses. The size of these devices do not provide a good learning environment for students taking online or live online based courses.

Web Browser Requirements:

• Latest Google Chrome is recommended for the best experience.
• Latest Mozilla FireFox
• Latest Microsoft Edge
• Latest Apple Safari

Basic Software Requirements (These are recommendations of software to use):

• Office suite software (Microsoft Office, OpenOffice, or LibreOffice)
• PDF reader program (Adobe Reader, FoxIt)
• Courses may require other software that is described in the above course outline.