Phlebotomist

You would take blood samples from people in hospital so their illness can be diagnosed and they can be treated.

You'd need to have a calm and friendly manner to put people at their ease when they may be nervous and distressed.

The samples you'd take would be important for diagnosing illness. As a phlebotomist you'd need to label the samples correctly and send them for analysis and testing in a laboratory. 

You would:

• Explain the procedure to patients

• Reassure patients if they are nervous or distressed

• Insert a hypodermic needle into the vein and draw off the blood into a tube

• Apply a dressing to the puncture made by the needle

• Label the blood sample

• Deliver the sample to the correct laboratory within required timescales

• Complete records and enter data on a computer

At all stages you would follow set procedures carefully so that samples are not contaminated or mixed up.

You could work with babies, adults and older people, with a wide range of conditions. You would need to follow the appropriate procedure for each type of patient you work with.

You can see more about the role on the phlebotomist page on the NHS Careers website.

• NHS Education for Scotland – Training for the healthcare workforce including higher education and professional development

• Disclosure Scotland – more about the Protecting Vulnerable Groups Scheme