Performing Venepuncture – Winged Infusion Set

Venepuncture is performed when a person needs venous blood drawn for analysis. The drawing of blood from a vein can be carried out in different ways, but the most common are via:

• winged infusion set
• vacuum blood collection (barrel)
• syringe and needle.

The following procedure concentrates on venepuncture using a winged infusion set. This is most commonly used when:

• blood is being drawn from the dorsum of the hand
• a client has difficult or shallow veins
• a larger amount of blood is required
• greater flexibility is required for the blood draw.

It is important to note that adequate training is essential to complete this task successfully and to ensure that the specimen taken has not been compromised, resulting in inaccurate test results. Nurses will need to comply with industry policies, National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards (second edition), organisational guidelines and procedural direction to safely apply this procedure.