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I'm currently going to school as a medical assistant. We are in a phlebotomy sequence and have started doing blood draws. First and foremost I should mention that when learning clinical procedures we practice on each other (under instructor supervision of course).
I really don't mind it. Sometimes a person may make a small mistake but that's okay. We're students after all.
However, there's a girl in my class that I do consider a friend but the idea of having her draw blood on my makes me nervous.
The reason being is this - she's mentally and emotionally unstable.
This is not information that I forced or coaxed out of her. She freely shares this without the slightest bit of hesitation. In fact, earlier on in our introductory sequence she had missed a week of school because she had attempted to commit suicide. She recovered and came back to school, not at all shy about sharing why she was in the hospital.
She's also shared that she's bipolar, has ADHD and is on medication. In fact she says this is the sixth time she's tried to kill herself. Again, not the slightest bit of hesitation. She just shares it as though it's everyday gossip.
This in and of itself would not be a big deal except for something that happened last sequence.
At the time we were learning injections. I didn't have a problem having her do injections on me as our injection sites were away from anything vital, such as nerves. Her technique was a bit uneasy to watch. When attempting to draw up liquid from a serum vial she would place the vial on the desk, hold her needle by the end of the barrel and jab the needle in. I sat next to her and would see the needle bend as she tried to push it through the rubber stopper.
Not exactly something would instill confidence, but it was nothing compared to seeing how she handles stressful situations first hand.
She was having trouble following safety protocol and was disregarding her technique. The instructor had taken her aside to talk about it and she had a meltdown. She started crying hysterically and getting really frustrated. This has happened at least twice in class.
Last week as we were learning how to tie a tourniquet she nearly had another meltdown. She was having trouble tying it and I was trying to help her, but she kept making the same mistake over and over again. I tried to explain it to her again and she started getting frustrated, saying "I don't get what you mean!"
Oh crud . . . not again.
I managed to calm her down but it didn't do much for my confidence in her if she's going to start losing it before we're even dealing with needles. Now we did start drawing blood last week but I didn't let her do it on me. I made an excuse to get out of being her partner and while there were no mishaps when she drew blood, she did not pass her first attempt.
Now she's determined to draw blood on me, which I wouldn't have that much of a problem with except:
1. I have a tendon right next to where my vein is. I keep imagining her missing the vein and going for that instead, causing me severe pain and possibly paralysis.
2. She hasn't exactly shown the best judgment. She always goofs off or talks during lecture and she really isn't taking clinical duties as seriously as she should be. I'm not saying we should be serious all the time but I don't think she sees how important it is that she remains focused. She's also going on about her ADHD and how she didn't take her medication on time.
First of all, if she can't handle her condition without her medication, she needs to be taking it on time. This is especially true if she's going to be working in a doctor's office and administering medication to patients. Someone could be hurt or even killed if she gives them the wrong medication or amount because she wasn't paying attention.
Secondly, the fact that she is so free about sharing sensitive information, such as her suicide attempts and mental disorders, displays poor judgment as far as I'm concerned. These are not things that anyone should be sharing - especially to people that you've known for less than a year. I can't imagine that anyone with a reasonable capacity for judgment wouldn't think twice before talking freely about such things.
There's also another disturbing thing that she's told me.
She has said, at least twice, that she hears voices in her head telling her bad things.
I didn't learn about that until after injections but that's sort of a deal breaker for me.
I feel a bit conflicted because I am her best friend in that class and she does rely on me for a lot of her support but my judgment is telling me that letting someone who is emotionally unstable, on medication (if she takes it on time) and hears "voices telling her bad things" place a needle in my body is a really bad idea. Again, my tendon is next to my vein. I'm sorry if this is selfish, but I value the use of my right arm more than her feelings.
So tomorrow I'm probably going to have to tell her, as gently as I can, that I don't trust her enough to do an invasive procedure like that. I'm a bit afraid to, seeing how she reacts to any sort of criticism, but I'm not going to be the accident that proves she's not fit for clinical duties.
I also feel as though I'm morally obligated to let someone else know what she's told me. On one hand, it's really not my business and it's very sensitive information, but I didn't twist her arm to get this information out of her. She just told me. At the same time, I feel that having someone with her mental and emotional state do these types of procedures is dangerous and if something were to happen to one of my classmates or a patient because I didn't speak up, I'd never be able to sleep again.
So what should I do? Should I report to someone or keep it to myself?
I really don't mind it. Sometimes a person may make a small mistake but that's okay. We're students after all.
However, there's a girl in my class that I do consider a friend but the idea of having her draw blood on my makes me nervous.
The reason being is this - she's mentally and emotionally unstable.
This is not information that I forced or coaxed out of her. She freely shares this without the slightest bit of hesitation. In fact, earlier on in our introductory sequence she had missed a week of school because she had attempted to commit suicide. She recovered and came back to school, not at all shy about sharing why she was in the hospital.
She's also shared that she's bipolar, has ADHD and is on medication. In fact she says this is the sixth time she's tried to kill herself. Again, not the slightest bit of hesitation. She just shares it as though it's everyday gossip.
This in and of itself would not be a big deal except for something that happened last sequence.
At the time we were learning injections. I didn't have a problem having her do injections on me as our injection sites were away from anything vital, such as nerves. Her technique was a bit uneasy to watch. When attempting to draw up liquid from a serum vial she would place the vial on the desk, hold her needle by the end of the barrel and jab the needle in. I sat next to her and would see the needle bend as she tried to push it through the rubber stopper.
Not exactly something would instill confidence, but it was nothing compared to seeing how she handles stressful situations first hand.
She was having trouble following safety protocol and was disregarding her technique. The instructor had taken her aside to talk about it and she had a meltdown. She started crying hysterically and getting really frustrated. This has happened at least twice in class.
Last week as we were learning how to tie a tourniquet she nearly had another meltdown. She was having trouble tying it and I was trying to help her, but she kept making the same mistake over and over again. I tried to explain it to her again and she started getting frustrated, saying "I don't get what you mean!"
Oh crud . . . not again.
I managed to calm her down but it didn't do much for my confidence in her if she's going to start losing it before we're even dealing with needles. Now we did start drawing blood last week but I didn't let her do it on me. I made an excuse to get out of being her partner and while there were no mishaps when she drew blood, she did not pass her first attempt.
Now she's determined to draw blood on me, which I wouldn't have that much of a problem with except:
1. I have a tendon right next to where my vein is. I keep imagining her missing the vein and going for that instead, causing me severe pain and possibly paralysis.
2. She hasn't exactly shown the best judgment. She always goofs off or talks during lecture and she really isn't taking clinical duties as seriously as she should be. I'm not saying we should be serious all the time but I don't think she sees how important it is that she remains focused. She's also going on about her ADHD and how she didn't take her medication on time.
First of all, if she can't handle her condition without her medication, she needs to be taking it on time. This is especially true if she's going to be working in a doctor's office and administering medication to patients. Someone could be hurt or even killed if she gives them the wrong medication or amount because she wasn't paying attention.
Secondly, the fact that she is so free about sharing sensitive information, such as her suicide attempts and mental disorders, displays poor judgment as far as I'm concerned. These are not things that anyone should be sharing - especially to people that you've known for less than a year. I can't imagine that anyone with a reasonable capacity for judgment wouldn't think twice before talking freely about such things.
There's also another disturbing thing that she's told me.
She has said, at least twice, that she hears voices in her head telling her bad things.
I didn't learn about that until after injections but that's sort of a deal breaker for me.
I feel a bit conflicted because I am her best friend in that class and she does rely on me for a lot of her support but my judgment is telling me that letting someone who is emotionally unstable, on medication (if she takes it on time) and hears "voices telling her bad things" place a needle in my body is a really bad idea. Again, my tendon is next to my vein. I'm sorry if this is selfish, but I value the use of my right arm more than her feelings.
So tomorrow I'm probably going to have to tell her, as gently as I can, that I don't trust her enough to do an invasive procedure like that. I'm a bit afraid to, seeing how she reacts to any sort of criticism, but I'm not going to be the accident that proves she's not fit for clinical duties.
I also feel as though I'm morally obligated to let someone else know what she's told me. On one hand, it's really not my business and it's very sensitive information, but I didn't twist her arm to get this information out of her. She just told me. At the same time, I feel that having someone with her mental and emotional state do these types of procedures is dangerous and if something were to happen to one of my classmates or a patient because I didn't speak up, I'd never be able to sleep again.
So what should I do? Should I report to someone or keep it to myself?
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