A phlebotomy technician salary can vary wildly, and is not the same salary, nor even close to the salary of the phlebotomist who has been on the job for several years.
A brand new phlebotomist in California, for example, can expect a starting hourly salary of $16.60, while an experienced phebotomist can make in the range of $24.20-$27.45 per hour. California is the highest paying state, with an average hourly rate of $23.76. The lowest paying state is Ohio, with an average hourly rate of $12.75. It also depends what type of facility you will be working in. In Bakersfield California, the average phlebotomy technician salary is $24.67 per hour. Bakersfield Phlebotomy Training Classes train students for these well-paying jobs. A lot of phlebotomists who are new to the career assume that they will just need to pass the certification test and be ready to do everything that the experienced phlebotomist can do. This just isn’t the case in the medical arena, where a performance isn’t all based upon doing certain duties. It goes beyond that to how a person interacts with patients and takes care of them. In order to be an expert at venipuncture, time and experience must play a huge role. Helping to keep patients, whether they are sick or healthy, comfortable while you draw out their blood, is a skill that takes time to get good at performing.
Numerous hospitals and clinics use a probationary style of hiring newly trained and certified phlebotomists. This is before they even get paid, although some places offer paid training. There is no set standard rate of pay for a phlebotomy technician salary, as each state is different, as well as each company and city. Further, experience and level of phlebotomy education plays a big role in how much salary a phlebotomist will receive. A phlebotomist working full time can expect forty or more hours per week, while a part time phlebotomist will see between twenty and thirty hours on their schedule, depending on the hospital employing them.
Phlebotomists working in the United States, under the general employment setting of clinical laboratory technicians claim to have around 328,000 employees in a health care role. In 2014, the average phlebotomy salary was at $15.84 per hour, or $32,710 per year. The low end of the pay scale sat at $11.28 per hour and the top end stopped at $23.73 per hour.
Phlebotomists are responsible for gathering blood samples for labs to analyze and because of this, specialized training is needed, starting with a phlebotomy training class and moving all the way through to a certification test being passed. With the entire spectrum of humanity getting older, health care as a career is growing in both demand and interest. Phlebotomy specialists have a unique opportunity to get hired, as their field of expertise is expected to increase job opportunities by as much as 14% through 2016.
The average new phlebotomy technician salary can begin anywhere from $12.75 through $16.50 per hour thereabouts. After working for about a year on the job, the salary range gets a boost up to $12.10 through $13.40 per hour. After five years, a phlebotomist can expect to be at $14.40 through $19.75 per hour. After ten years, $20.10 per hour is not uncommon.
The different salary ranges come from where the phlebotomist is being employed. Private doctors pay phlebotomy jobs in Bakersfield Ca anywhere from $10.50 up to $14.50 per hour. Hospitals aren’t much more than that, at around $14.60 per hour typically. Non-profit companies can have a wide variance in salary types, anywhere from $11.50 all the way up to $15.50 per hour. The higher ranges of salaries were announced by people working for government agencies, with the salary ranging from $11.30 per hour to start and going all the way up to $16.00 per hour. An added bonus of working for a government agency, besides higher pay, is the tremendous benefits packages they offer.
As stated earlier, where a job is located plays an important role in how much a new phlebotomist gets paid. Boston has the best salary rates, starting around $13.50 and going up to $17.30 per hour or more. Bakersfield Ca and Chicago claim salaries in much the same range, starting at around $12.50 per hour and going up to around $15.40 per hour in Chicago, and $11.55 through $14.55 per hour in Phoenix. Dallas starts their phlebotomists out at anywhere from $10.00 through $13.20 per hour or more.
As with most careers in the health care field, phlebotomists are able to often take advantage of benefits. These can include being compensated for working on holidays along with a specific number of sick days. Their health insurance plans are top-rated. Many hospitals are able to create a plan for retirement that can be included in their benefits packages. Some places of employment will even pay to have a phlebotomist get re-certified, so that the phlebotomist can renew their licenses each time they come due, at no cost to them. In some cases, some phlebotomy classes in Bakersfield Ca can be conducted by the hospital or clinic employing the phlebotomist.
In the general medical arena, as with the phlebotomy career, a phlebotomy technician salary can grow steadily depending on the location of employment, much the same as is experienced with working in a government agency. If you choose to work through a union you can pretty much bank on regular increases throughout your years of employment. Moving from being a regular phlebotomy specialist into other career fields, whether going to the lab or changing to a hospital or private lab, can help increase your earnings. This choice is yours how you will proceed through your career.
Those practiced and certified in the process of taking blood or administering transfusions are called phlebotomists. Phlebotomy is also associated with blood work that is done in the laboratory. Because of the improved conditions within the medical and health care field in general, people today have a much better network of professional individuals to care for the many aspects of health. Along with the better quality of care comes the need for better qualified people to administer to the needs of the whole. By keeping the phlebotomy technician salary at at least a living wage, certification and extensive training is necessary.
Blood work was once handled almost exclusively by practical or registered nurses, and it was a standard daily task that came with the position. Even though nurses still perform this duty, it can often take them from other important duties. The phlebotomist’s part of the medical profession comes with the need of individuals who are only involved with the important tasks associated with blood work. That is the reason that certification in phlebotomy is on the rise, not only for technicians, but for registered nurses, too.
The Phlebotomy Technician Salary Varies From State To State
With the growing need of phlebotomists has come the realization that regulations need to be in place to assure that those taking blood are certified in what they are doing, and the phlebotomy technician salary is higher in States such as California, New York, and Washington. Some states have already made it mandatory that the person doing the work is certified. This is true in laboratories, hospitals, blood banks, and all the places where blood is taken or given to patients. Many schools concentrate on the instruction of phlebotomy and train students to pass the accrediting exam. They are tested on occasion to determine that they are learning what it takes to pass the two part certification exam. The first part of the exam is theoretical. Students must understand the process of blood extraction and be able to explain either verbally or in written form why certain things are done and the areas from where blood can be taken. This also includes learning the equipment and technology used in the process. Also covered in theory are the necessary safety measures, legal aspects of the job as it relates to the patient, what the phlebotomist’s exposure is in practice, and how or what to do in emergencies. In the practical part of the test, students must demonstrate exactly how to take blood from a patient who might be young, old, stubborn or difficult to deal with. This portion of the test shows how safe the student is and also indicates his or her communication skills with the patient.
Does A Good Grade Guarantee A High Starting Phlebotomy Technician Salary?
Students taking the test must be well versed in all the associated medical terms and know abbreviations or notations that are important to the phlebotomy processes. By scoring well on your tests, you will be able to command a higher starting salary. They must have the basic concepts of blood work memorized so they can relate to the testing agency the answers to any question that could arise during a procedure. A question might be posed as how best to handle a situation involving a very old patient with poor vein structure or how to locate hidden veins. Questions are designed to question not only the points taught in class but the student’s reasoning capabilities. Preparation for the exam is very important because it is the defining portion of phlebotomy.
Some points in how to prepare for the exam include:
- Practice on volunteer subjects or work with someone who regularly takes blood
- Memorizing the definitions, words, short hand, and medical terminologies that are used in the medical processes dealing with blood and bodily fluids
- Studying proper documentation in books or journals to keep the material fresh mentally
- Attend any conference or meeting that can present new insights in phlebotomy
Phlebotomy Technician Salary For Part-Time Students
One of the primary things to learn if you want to get into health care is the basic task of taking blood. If you work or already have a heavy schedule, it might not be possible to attend classes on a daily basis. It is much better to go to school when convenient by taking classes part-time.
A part-time school for phlebotomy will prepare you for taking the certification exam and continuing toward a degree or a certificate in phlebotomy. The instruction is necessary should you ever hold a position where you took part in blood transfusions or blood testing. If you are a high school graduate, or have received a GED, you are eligible for a phlebotomy school in Kern County. The phlebotomy technician salary for part-time students is nearly as high as full-time students. After completing courses in an accredited school, you will need to go through an internship to acquire certification in phlebotomy. The school you attend should help you find a place to do your internship. It only takes about three months to complete course studies in phlebotomy when you go to school part-time. To go beyond that and get a degree can require a year and a half of your time. Even though the short course is helpful, you might need to get your bachelor’s degree, especially if you are taking the class in conjunction with university studies. Most people enjoy part-time phlebotomy courses because they don’t have to attend classes full-time for the majority of courses. Physiology, anatomy, and communication skills are all taught part-time. Of course, everything that is required to become a phlebotomist cannot be learned sitting at your computer. Some field training is necessary to prepare you to the processes involved with taking blood and the other skills you will need. You can’t expect to know how actually to do venipuncture unless you physically go through the exercise with a live patient. More complicated procedures can be taught with the assistance of a doctor.
Part-Time Phlebotomy Training
Completing part-time studies prepares you for internship to complete your degree, but you will need to learn CPR before you will be allowed to be an intern. This is not always a part of part-time venipuncture course study, but can be gotten in the private sector. Basic studies in phlebotomy cover the ways to safely take blood and protect the patient. Also covered in school are the legalities of patient and professional relationships, as well as the phlebotomy technician salary. Phlebotomists don’t just take blood from patients; there are many other responsibilities that can only be learned through school and internship. A school curriculum that includes other medical studies to produce a bachelor’s degree may result in a full four years of college. Certification for phlebotomy is approved by the American Society of Clinical Pathologists, the American Association of Medical Personnel, and the American Medical Technologists through the exam you must take to qualify. Part-time courses properly prepare you for all the procedures you will need to know in order to do your work as a phlebotomist.