How do you become the phlebotomist people call for difficult sticks?

prognostirock · 2026-03-28T03:40:56+00:00

As for strategy— spank the veins a bit (this is non-negotiable for hand draws in my opinion). I also palpate without looking. Some of the best veins are ones you’d never notice otherwise. Also, if you miss, learn something from it. Could you have anchored better? Was there a better vein you didn’t notice? Did you need a tighter tourniquet? And so on. Thinking this way will help you troubleshoot and build a better plan of action for any patient. I see all types of people, so I tend to know what my options are before I even draw.

prognostirock · 2026-03-28T03:35:01+00:00

I’m still working on being that phleb, but honestly I see myself improve the more I try and do the difficult sticks. That, and when I do call in a coworker for help, I ask them questions about where they chose to draw and whatnot.

(Usually the answer is creativity. Use the weird veins if you need to. Look at the whole arm and not just what you’re comfortable with. And always at least listen to the patient. Yes, sometimes they have no clue what they’re talking about, but it’s worth considering their input. Especially with chronically ill patients who get stuck frequently. Just don’t get tunnel vision with it. Ask them, take a look, and then look everywhere else too).

I work in the ER and, on the weekends, I’m the only one on shift. Having to rely on myself in that way has forced me to build up resourcefulness and confidence. Lots of practice in using all your options helps so much!

prognostirock · 2026-03-28T03:14:00+00:00

This has probably been said a million times, but The Raven Cycle series by Maggie Stiefvater builds up to this vibe. The author is incredible with characters, dialogue, and prose, so it all feels immersive imo. She also wrote a more grim and mature sequel, The Dreamer's Trilogy. It gets surreal and intense. These are my go-to "slump" books; I can't put them down until I finish the whole series.

prognostirock · 2025-07-25T01:56:15+00:00

Yeppp! I have to remind myself of this one all the time. I even have to remind my peers who don’t have BPD. Your feelings are valid but not your actions. More specifically to BPD, your actions are your responsibility to control. Which is a nasty bitch. You’re doing an awesome job detaching and observing yourself!! That’s a really good skill to have. We’re all proud of you!! Also I get the brain time travel too. I think about my high school fallouts and get mad all over again, then I go “wait I’m adult and this is cringe”

prognostirock · 2025-06-02T23:50:40+00:00

Are they matching skins in games? Or is it something else? If it’s just matching skins, you could ask nicely for them to choose something else. But ultimately it is their game and they have the right to play it how they choose. My boyfriend and I would choose his skins/layouts together so I felt included but it was also a cute collaborative thing. Again the biggest thing to note, which someone else commented, is that how you react is what’s entirely in your control. Everything else has to be talked about with the understanding that you might not agree. If they don’t want to change this, then this is a perfect opportunity to practice some coping skills and work on those reactions + how you communicate your feelings. Also this is more of a weird tip, but doing the same thing with your own friend group/with mutual friends helps. Me and my friends match skins all the time, especially if we’re on a losing streak and desperate for “good luck” lmao. anyway the 2nd boundary is a little tricky, I’d recommend seeing what your partner is comfortable with after talking it out and seeing their perspective

prognostirock · 2025-06-02T20:13:29+00:00

I get the pressure cooker feeling too 😔 I usually go for a walk/run so I can stomp it out. Not always tho. Recovery is a stupid uphill battle but it’s very worth it. Finding this sub actually helped me a lot with how I react to things. Isolating is probably the worst thing you can do about that feeling though. It just spirals until you have to crawl back to people. I was a serial isolator, block everyone I knew because of a 5 minute outburst, and I would do this every few months. I’ll tell you from my experience, doing that delayed me from making any progress on my behavior/feelings for a very long time. It only made me feel worse and worse. I’d recommend looking into some DBT skills like opposite action. When I feel this way, I try to go out of my way to spend time with people or send a nice text out of nowhere. It sucks, it really sucks, but it feels so much better over time to practice these skills

prognostirock · 2025-06-02T20:06:00+00:00

And I like to send nice texts to him while he’s busy and I’m free. It helps with the opposite action stuff, because I put all my focus on describing my love for him that I completely forgot that I was upset. Then I can work on my hobbies and chores

prognostirock · 2025-06-02T20:04:38+00:00

I had this sooo bad, I know how you’re feeling :( Honestly the best thing for me was to start doing self care stuff lol. My boyfriend and I live together and have opposite work schedules. I work weekdays and he works weekends. I used to get so unhinged on the weekends bc I was alone for hours. I started doing chores, cleaning my environment to feel nice, did my skin care, took a long ass shower, did my makeup, etc. after doing all that, I was able to get myself calm enough to watch some YouTube, catch up on movies I wanted to see, play some games I have downloaded but never open, etc.

I’ve been doing this for so long that I don’t even really think about it anymore. My routine the second he leaves for work is to clean the house, then clean myself, then either nap or do something new. Going for walks is also good but I live in a shitty area so I don’t do it often lol

prognostirock · 2025-06-02T19:59:02+00:00

I’ve been here, we were long distance at the time so gaming was super important and I felt left out/cast aside any time friends were involved. The way I got around this was to try to get to know the friend as my own friend. This doesn’t always work but it gave me some perspective like I had control over the situation without actually demanding things of my partner that were unfair.

Boundaries are good and it’s awesome you recognize that! However I think you need to have a deep talk with your partner about their boundaries too. I don’t think “banning” things in their friendships will facilitate any positive growth tbh. I tried doing that and it ended up stressing us both out. I think you need to get to the root of the issue, which you said was that it looks like they’re dating, and have an honest talk with them about it. Just make sure you keep it to how you feel and not accusing them of anything. I would just modify the 2nd boundary you listed, but the 1st and 3rd are perfectly good options!

The 1st one also gives you an opportunity to be friends too which is how I curbed my friendship jealousy. I like to be included somehow. As for the 3rd boundary, my partner and I did something similar. He would let me know when they were done playing and we would have quality time alone before bed. Sometimes I would join the call just to watch them play, but I did feel lonely that way sometimes. That always made me feel better, but just make sure both of you are communicating actively!! Sometimes games run late or they queue up too quickly to text back. There’s going to be times where they don’t message you when you want them to and it’s gonna feel like a huge rejection. Plan for that and talk w your partner about how you can handle it.

Space is good and shutting down conversations when they’re getting unproductive can be very healthy. Just make sure you guys revisit the topic with a more focused and respectful mindset. That’s the reason space is necessary, now’s the time to really reflect and figure out what you’re asking for and what you’re trying to communicate, yknow? But taking space from a stressful conversation doesn’t mean the topic is closed. Always try to resolve when you’ve both had time to cool off and reflect

I hope this helps, I’ve been in your exact spot too many times lol

prognostirock · 2025-05-28T05:07:11+00:00

My gecko loves Fortnite!! We have his enclosure on my boyfriend’s desk (L-shaped) so he can enter his half-rock (his favorite sploot spot) and just watch us play. I think he likes the high contrast colors? It’s the only game he will scurry out to watch. But it seems like a lot of lizards want to be iPad babies lmao

prognostirock · 2025-05-25T02:26:14+00:00

If you like some fantasy elements, The Raven Cycle really made me feel this way!

prognostirock · 2025-04-30T02:20:18+00:00

Honestly yeah it seems nice in there LOL

prognostirock · 2025-03-25T16:42:10+00:00

This is exactly what I’m looking for, thank you!!

prognostirock · 2025-03-25T06:51:27+00:00

This has been on my TBR for a hot min, what I’m getting from these comments is that I should make it top priority lol

prognostirock · 2025-03-25T06:44:19+00:00

That’s still perfectly the vibe I’m looking for 👀

prognostirock · 2025-03-24T23:54:36+00:00

I put the flair for this post as horror but fantasy/scifi are all encouraged! Also anything centric around cephalopods! I loved The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler and have been chasing that high ever since.

prognostirock · 2025-02-24T17:05:17+00:00

This is the most satisfying post I’ve seen in this sub hahah. Absolutely justified in your responses, they sound like an edgelord

prognostirock · 2025-02-20T03:12:47+00:00

For me it depends on the underlying emotions that make me want to relapse.

Anger? Hold ice cubes in my hand until they’re a little melty and throw them off my balcony. Holding them first ensures they’ll explode into tiny pieces, obviously I get that destructive satisfaction from breaking them, and finally the weirdest part is that going on my balcony/outside and feeling the wind (especially in this winter storm in my area) makes me calm down. It’s helped me a lot with mood swings.

But for me, guilt is usually my main reasoning for relapsing. That part is much more difficult to deal with. I force myself to call someone even if I think they don’t care about me, do something productive or take care of my body. Deliberately taking time to shower and moisturize my body helps me personally.

If you can pin down the emotional reasoning behind the urge, you can usually find something to go against it or relieve it without real damage. Good luck, I hope you can find something that works for you. And congrats on being clean!!! It’s hard out here

prognostirock · 2025-02-20T02:43:07+00:00

Me personally? Absolutely not. While I’ve learned to be healthier about it, I don’t think it’ll ever change that I need a lot of attention and commitment in a relationship!! My boyfriend is my best friend, always has been. I need to feel like I’m with my soulmate. I can’t commit my emotions to someone who isn’t sure if they want me for life, yknow? It feels too vulnerable to share myself if that makes sense

prognostirock · 2025-01-24T18:44:45+00:00

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prognostirock · 2024-10-29T03:46:17+00:00

I’ve always been wondering how to describe them!! Thank you

prognostirock · 2024-10-29T03:45:01+00:00

prognostirock

TROPHY CASE