PhlebotomyTUTOR

Phlebotomists are health care professionals who have been trained to collect patients' blood specimens by venipuncture and by microcollection techniques (collecting very small amounts of blood by finger or heel puncture). The practice of phlebotomy, or the technique of venipuncture, generally refers to the collection of blood from a vein. Collecting clinical laboratory specimens prior to the actual laboratory testing, phlebotomists play an important role on the clinical laboratory team. Other health care professionals, such as nurses, may also be trained in phlebotomy. The technique of phlebotomy is not limited to clinical health care professionals and may include medical researchers who need blood samples from human or animal subjects.

PhlebotomyTUTOR is a software program aimed at students, research technicians, and other professionals who are learning or reviewing the techniques of phlebotomy. This program has a number of attractive features. It appears to be one of the very few programs focusing on venipuncture technique. Most other venipuncture programs are geared toward other purposes (intravenous therapy, for example). Second, the program claims compliance with current OSHA rules and regulations and National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS) standards. Finally, its content, images, and navigability work together to produce an excellent teaching and testing tool.

The content of PhlebotomyTUTOR is organized into a main menu of seven broad topic areas or sections with corresponding texts, videos, and 3-D animations. In addition to an introduction with learning objectives, the program includes sections on anatomy, equipment, venipuncture, procedural complications, and quality assurance, and an exam. Each section is divided into subtopics. The equipment section, for example, includes the subtopics tubes, needles, tourniquets, and other. Subtopics are explained in concise texts of twenty-five to 200 words and are accompanied by images that clearly illustrate the material.

In the venipuncture section, the technique is well described and presented in the appropriate sequence: greeting the patient, prepping the patient, and drawing blood from the patient. Each subtopic is clearly explained and includes not only the description and significance of each step but also an image that enhances understanding of the text.

Navigation consists of choosing a menu item and then clicking through the screens with arrows located in the lower right corner. Users can easily navigate forward and backward throughout the program with an uncluttered main menu and submenus. Images occur on almost every screen and include photographs, videos, and 3-D animations. These elegant and professional quality images are powerful tools that increase comprehension and appreciation of the content.

The quiz consists of twenty questions. Each question is presented in a multiple-choice format and many include images. Answers selected by the user will appear marked and subsequent screens indicate and explain the correct answer with text and images; users looking for feedback on wrong answers may be disappointed. The last screen of the quiz gives the final score and delineates by topic the correct and incorrect answers. Users with a score of 85% or higher are eligible for continuing education credit.

PhlebotomyTUTOR is well suited as an introduction to or review of phlebotomy practice for students or professionals. Readers can see samples screens from the PhlebotomyTUTOR program by visiting the University of Washington Web site at http://128.95.186.167/tutor/products/prod12/. Readers interested in learning more about the TUTOR series of medical training software are referred to the 1996 article by Astion et al. in Clinical Laboratory Science [1].