None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Phlebotomy is a central task performed by the Blood Service for the collection of whole blood, plasma and platelets from its voluntary blood donors. Currently there are no publications regarding how to routinely and systematically assess donor veins and the impact vein quality has on the success of blood donation. In the last 12 months up to 4% of phlebotomies attempted were unsuccessful. In addition, inadequate venous access resulted in needle dislodgement, underweight collections, protracted bleed times, component discard and substantial wastage of blood collected. The purpose of this study is to formally validate an internally developed vein score assessment tool to assess a donor's vein suitability for phlebotomy. The study will examine the extent of inter-rater variability in vein assessment between phlebotomist's and determine whether a score at or below a certain level is predictive of failed phlebotomy, needle dislodgement, underweight donation and prolonged donation duration.
Interventions
The VSAT is comprised of 3 questions that use a 5 point Likert-type scale to measure a blood donors vein for suitability for phlebotomy. The 3 questions assess Vein visibility, palpation and size and give it a score between 0 and 4. The scores from each question are then tallied to calculate the donor’s overall vein score out of 12. The vein assessment will be completed by qualified Australian Blood Donor Centre staff a 4 locations in NSW. Assessment will be completed on both the left and righ
The VSAT is comprised of 3 questions that use a 5 point Likert-type scale to measure a blood donors vein for suitability for phlebotomy. The 3 questions assess Vein visibility, palpation and size and give it a score between 0 and 4. The scores from each question are then tallied to calculate the donor’s overall vein score out of 12. The vein assessment will be completed by qualified Australian Blood Donor Centre staff a 4 locations in NSW. Assessment will be completed on both the left and right arms (cubital fossa) of eligible blood donors who have provided verbal consent. Two different staff members will assess the one donor separately to determine interrater reliability. Staff members will be blinded to their paired assessors results. The first assessment will be conducted in the pre donation interview room approximately 5-10 min prior to donation and the second assessment will be conducted immediately before donation when the donor is sitting on the donor couch
Sponsors
Australian Red Cross Blood Service
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
Participant (Staff) 1. Qualified (successfully completed all Blood Service competencies) donor centre phlebotomist 2. Able and willing to provide written informed consent to participate Participant (Donor) 1. Adults, greater than 18 years of age 2. New or experienced whole blood donor 3. Eligible for blood donation as per the current Guidelines for Selection of Blood Donors 4. Written consent for general donation and oral consent for having their vein scored twice by participating staff.
Exclusion criteria
Participant (Staff) 1. Non-phlebotomy donor centre staff member 2. Currently participating in another Blood Service research study Participant (Donor) 1. Donors eligible for sample only collections (sample only appointments or identified as sample only candidate during interview e.g: Low Hb donors for ferritin testing) 2. Donors undergoing apheresis collections
Outcome results
None listed