I donated convalescent plasma at this OneBlood center today. My overall reaction is that the employees here need higher safety standards, more rigorous protocols, and training in bedside manner and patient communication.
First, I should say I was 40 minutes late to the appointment (overslept my Saturday 6am alarm) and I am very sorry for that. The employees saw me anyway and were very forgiving - that was very kind of them.
There were 3 women and 1 man working in the clinic. 2 of the women had very long hair (down to their waists), including my primary phlebotomist. Her hair made contact often with the tubes she was setting up for me - something was wrong with the first kit, and she had to throw it out and get a new one, so i was watching her work for a long time! I was hoping her hair didn't touch anything that was supposed to be sterile, but I couldn't be sure. People with long hair should be required to pull them back in a clinical setting! Many restaurants require it of their cooks and servers - and that seems much less important.
Then, my primary phlebotomist disappeared for the rest of my draw, which took 52 minutes - not sure where she went but I thought she was supposed to keep an eye on me.
Instead, another phlebotomist helped me - and she had really, really long nails. The alarm on my machine went off 3 times because of an occlusion in my line, and each time she went to address the alarm, it took her 2-4 tries for the touch screen to respond, because her nail got in the way of her fingertip. This also seems like a hazard - what if you need to respond and act urgently? Seconds can matter a lot in medicine.
Lastly - and this is probably strange to say - I noticed that the employees made very little eye contact with me throughout the process. It felt very transactional. And often when i was talking to them and asking a question, they would ask each other the same question from across the room, then it was like they expected me to be satisfied with their conversation, and so they didn't respond to me directly (or look me in the eye to see if I understood). It made me feel a little small and a little less human - like I wasn't worthy of a direct response.
On the positive side, at least everyone wore masks appropriately.
Last time I donated at OneBlood a month ago, it was in a truck in Hialeah, where there was only one employee, but she was really efficient and empathetic, and I would definitely go back to her next time. She was the one who suggested I donate plasma again as soon as I was able to - so I did. Bedside manner may matter less when you're dealing with healthy people donating blood, but I would like to be treated like more of a person by people who seem to care more about doing things the right way. read more