Blood Draws: Less Trauma for Kids and Parents
Medical procedures on infants are probably more traumatic on us parents than they are on kids themselves, but that's not to say we shouldn't search for the best (aka painfree) care. Vaish is looking for your advice on clinics that could provide a better experience (is that possible?) for blood draws.
My 6 month old has had two doctor visits for blood draws, and both times, they have failed to find his veins, and he has been poked in his arms, and legs 6 times. He is obviously very tortured by these visits, and I almost end up crying. Do you know of a clinic in Portland that is particularly good at blood draws?
We have had this same problem with our child, who is now nearing three. One horrible time at an ER they tried three separate times before giving up. There was a lot of crying, and I was glad then that I was still nursing him.
Our pediatrician gave us some good advice before a recent blood draw ... he said to load him up with liquids before going. Because he is older now, I was also able to prepare him mentally. We went to Emmanuel and they did get it on the first try (a first for us), even though they had to move the needle around in his arm to catch the vein.
My son did really well. I told him everything that would happen, and told him he would get to see his blood. He was curious about that. I was actually stunned that it went so well.
Posted by: Kathy | January 09, 2008 at 09:11 AM
I've had no-cry draws at the lab at Providence on Glisan. Sometimes they can be a little busy, but it's worth it. It's close, so we have our doctor fax them the orders rather than make a special trip to the doctor's office. I've found that nurses and lab techs do a much, much better job of any needle work than doctors. The Providence techs draw blood all day every day and are really good at it. The thing that helps us the most is nursing through the blood draw.
Posted by: Kristin | January 09, 2008 at 10:24 AM
I used to nurse my kids while they got their shots--didn't do it the first couple of times with my son, but after I started I noticed a huge difference. Of course it still hurt, but they were calm beforehand and settled down afterwards and I felt better, too. I had nurses look askance at me a time or two, but it really worked well. I'm not sure that nursing would work for blood draws--you'd know better than I would.
Another tip for older kids with blood draws and shots is to take them with you if you donate blood at the Red Cross. They get to see the whole process and you get to model for them how it doesn't hurt much, etc.
Posted by: Janice | January 09, 2008 at 10:24 AM
I don't know if you have the option, since it's the lab in our doctor's office, but the blood techs at Portland Family Practice are A-MA-ZING! My daughter has not cried once in two years, and having had much blood drawn myself, I can say that it's because those phlebotomists are like magicians. Ya just don't feel a thing. And they are lightning fast! I have actually hugged them a few times in gratitude.
Posted by: Amy | January 09, 2008 at 10:40 AM
We had to have some blood draws done & I highly recommend the lab at Emanuel Hospital. Because they are a pediatric hospital, they have a separate area for kids draws, and the phlebotomists were great! But you have to check if that's in-network on your insurance (they are for us). They had the warming pack ready to draw blood to the surface where they would be drawing, had two people available, etc. Our daughter was about 1 year old at the time & they did a regular draw from her arm but earlier draws were heel sticks sometimes.
Posted by: Susan in OR | January 09, 2008 at 10:51 AM
I'll echo the above - my daughter has had more blood draws than I'd like to remember and we've had good experiences at both Portland Family Practice and Emanuel (and some terrible experiences elsewhere.)
Posted by: Stephanie | January 09, 2008 at 11:27 AM
My daughter needed a blood draw in during her toddler years and my pediatrician's office said that her veins were too small and sent us to Emmanuel. I remember it going not perfectly but tolerably well.
Posted by: anne | January 09, 2008 at 12:00 PM
I also want to recommend Legacy Emanuel hospital. They did an amazing job of drawing my daughters blood when she was 8 months old. I had to hold her down, and she put up one hell of a fight, but the phlebotomists were really great with her. They talked to her and soothed her the whole time and were very supportive. Remember, no blood draw is completely perfect and your going to be just as upset as your little one. Also if you don't feel comfortable about how the draw is going, you have every right to stop them and ask for a break or someone else to finish. Always follow your instincts in any case like this.
Posted by: Becky | January 09, 2008 at 12:25 PM
I have hard-to-find veins, generally involving one nurse poking me in the arm three times, and then getting a second nurse to try in the other arm. It sucks. Until a nurse finally told me it was easier to get a vein in the hand. Of course, every time I mention this to a new nurse, he/she decides that they know better than I, and will still proceed to try the arm, but whatever. I don't know if the hand would work easier for a kid, but you can always bring up the option.
Posted by: KMat | January 09, 2008 at 01:38 PM
A couple of things that I saw mentioned were the heat packs and asking for someone else. Most labs/hospitals have a policy re: how many times a healthcare professional can try. The policy I am familiar with is 2 strikes and someone new must be found. So, feel comfortable telling a nurse (experienced or unexperienced) that it is time to find someone else. Some hospitals have IV therapy; or, NICU or PICU nurses tend to be very experienced with hard to stick kiddos and babies. Heat packs are always available and do helps to dilate the veins which results in an easier target. Getting your child to increase hydration is also a huge help as it increases volume in the veins, again creating a larger target.
As for the hand, sometimes it is the best place and ask the person doing the draw to look at it as an option, if it seems as though the arms are going to be difficult.
Just as an fyi, sometimes a vein might look great, but it might not be the best vein for a stick because it could roll. The best way to find a good vein is by feel. A good one should bounce back when palpated, like a rubber band.
Posted by: Erica | January 09, 2008 at 02:03 PM
we've had to go through this several times -just thinking about it gives me the willies. however, what's made it a better situation has been our doc. She (Dr. Bix at Metropolian Pediatrics) has always done the blood draw herself -she recognizes that she often has more experience with babies than the phlebotomists in the lab. perhaps your pediatrician could do this, too? On one occassion Dr. Bix had to do a scalp draw (when my baby was about 6 months old!). I nearly passed out.
Another time we had to go to Doernbechers lab and we had a terrible experience -they explained that they did this on babies all the time, but it was horrific watching them. I saw her poke in and just DIG around -she had no idea where she was going, she was just hoping to get lucky. I told her to stop and that we'd have our pediatrician draw blood and send it to them. So, as much as I'd love to close my eyes and not watch (i get so faint at the sight of blood), i force myself to watch to make sure they're making reasonable efforts.
good luck. sorry you have to go through this.
Posted by: thuan | January 09, 2008 at 02:58 PM
we've had to go through this several times -just thinking about it gives me the willies. however, what's made it a better situation has been our doc. She (Dr. Bix at Metropolian Pediatrics) has always done the blood draw herself -she recognizes that she often has more experience with babies than the phlebotomists in the lab. perhaps your pediatrician could do this, too? On one occassion Dr. Bix had to do a scalp draw (when my baby was about 6 months old!). I nearly passed out.
Another time we had to go to Doernbechers lab and we had a terrible experience -they explained that they did this on babies all the time, but it was horrific watching them. I saw her poke in and just DIG around -she had no idea where she was going, she was just hoping to get lucky. I told her to stop and that we'd have our pediatrician draw blood and send it to them. So, as much as I'd love to close my eyes and not watch (i get so faint at the sight of blood), i force myself to watch to make sure they're making reasonable efforts.
good luck. sorry you have to go through this.
Posted by: thuan | January 09, 2008 at 03:00 PM
i too had a horrible experience with my daughter. i asked if the finger prick would be sufficient but they refused saying that they really needed to do the draw through the needle. after too many failed attempts, i ordered the nurse to do the prick and we would come back if it wasn't sufficient. guess what? turns out the finger prick was all they needed. grrrr.
Posted by: laura | January 10, 2008 at 11:53 PM
Just an update: We went to Doernbecher, and also made sure that baby was well hydrated before the draw, and the nurses at Doernbecher found his vein in the first try! All well now.
Posted by: Vaish | January 15, 2008 at 01:48 PM
had to go to the emergency room the other evening with my daughter's 14 month old. The nurses tied both arms in order to prepare to stick a vein with nothing accomplished. Finally stuck the back of the hand and blood poured out. After catching so much blood in tubes, they came back only to say that the blood had clotted, so they would stick the finger. Blood was then squeezed out to fill these other tubes. How sad is all this that this period of time there is not a most advanced way to get blood without a miss! God help us!
Posted by: MeeMee | September 15, 2008 at 04:43 PM
PARENTS EVERY WHERE IN THE WORLD!! PLEASE BUY THIS BOOK TITLED: Parents HandbookYour Childs First Blood Test BY Josephine Franco,Parents you have to buy this book! I am a parent of 4 kids,I'm telling you material you do not leave home without it!It has Children's Hospital Dir ectory,Appointment sec And a story book section which is so BRILLIANT!! called The BLOOD CELL GANG!! The Characters are soooo cute!! There is Paula Platelets,wally white blood cell JUST BUY IT!
Posted by: Charlotte Grisham | August 11, 2012 at 03:00 PM