Height of chair when having blood tests

How did you manage? Did they lift you on with aid? Or steps up ?
say you don't feel safe and ask for a bog standard chair next time

It would depend on the chair they were using. Some phlebotomy chairs are height adjustable.

I need regular blood tests and while the chair used is quite big, I have noticed some small metal steps to the side...I'm presuming used for those smaller, I'm 5"8.

I'd also add in the room used at my surgery, it's not really big enough for more than one chair and I'd presume it has to work not only for all patients but for the nurse / Phlebotomist too

I think d try to cope.

I just sit on a normal chair with my hand on the Nurse’s desk and she takes the blood. No fuss and bother with high chairs. I don’t understand why they use high chairs - the mind boggles.!!!

I'm 5 ft 1.

Years ago, hospital inpatient bedside chair was made for giants.. Ward Sister insisted I needed to sit out on said chair, not lie in bed risking clots post hysterectomy.
I replied "I can't sit on the chair because it's so high my feet dangle off the ground and the weight of my legs drags on my wound " When she had checked my toes could not touch the floor she changed it for a lower chair that was fine.

GP nurse blood test chair at GP is fine. Examination tables are often not, and if the table can't be lowred I ask for a step.

Worst offender is my dentist's new supermodern reclining curved dental chair, designed by and for 6 ft stick insects with a long back. So my neck and small of back don't coincide with the shapes on the chair. I nag him about this every single time.

Is it a right? Not sure about that, did you specifically ask for it to be altered/changed, I assume the blood test went ahead?
It must be tricky for all heights to be accomodated.

They would not be able to have different chairs for different sizes so for some it will always be a bit awkward.

I found the chair in my GP surgery enormous and said so. She couldn't take blood from my left arm so I asked me to put my arm on the right hand chair arm but I couldn't reach it!
Afterwards I had blood on my arm and thought she was going to offer to clean it but no, I had to ask her to wipe the blood off before I left.
In addition the door opened mid- procedure and she proceeded to have a conversation with the doctor with the door half open and my blood in mid-flow!
That's just my story...

I`m less than 5`, and my blood tests are done here at home. I just sit on the settee, and the nurses never say it should be otherwise.

A nearby blood test centre has massive chairs that are high and incredibly wide. I’m only 5’ 1”. The phlebotomist told me they have to have big chairs to accommodate all the bigger people. I just laughed as it made me feel like a little girl. I moved house last year and our new surgery does blood tests. They have a high chair and when I mentioned it was told it’s the only one they have with arms on.

crazyH

I just sit on a normal chair with my hand on the Nurse’s desk and she takes the blood. No fuss and bother with high chairs. I don’t understand why they use high chairs - the mind boggles.!!!

I have never seen these higher chairs, but presumably they are used so the person doing blood tests all day doesn't develop problems with their back.

Next time ask if you can either just sit in an ordinary desk chair, which is what surgeries and hospitals use where I live, or be provided with a children's bathroom stool or othersafe stool, so you can get in and out of the chair.

My adult daughter is 4'10" but has no problem getting in the high phlebotomy chairs.

I have blood tests 3 weeks out of 4. The higher chairs cause the nurses less back strain, I’m told. They put me in a lower chair because I have a port which is easier on their backs but prefer the higher chairs for other points of access.

There is also the matter of the position of the arm relative to heart for correct blood draw.

I'm a shortie too, I get offered a step usually, but getting down's no problem, just slither off.

I find I need to take my own cushions with me to the hospital as they cannot find enough pillows to enable me to lie down. I have kyphosis , a hump back , so can't lie flat. I'd have thought it was second nature for a trained nurse or care assistant to see that the patient is comfortably supported. But no, some aren't trained to do so.

A and E is the worst of the lot!

The dentist where I'm a private patient is much better and she and her nurse pay attention to a patient's shape and size by providing ample pillows on request.

Never seen any high chairs in a consulting/treatment room at my GP practice. Just a standard chair for patients.

A bit off track here, but I hate the chairs in our GO’s waiting room. They have those cups on them that raise them and my legs dangle as I sit on them. I think only a few of them should have them.

I used to be a phlebotomist and as previously stated, a higher chair is essential for the strain on our backs. Also the chairs we used were slightly slanted backwards so that the fainters wouldn't pass out onto the floor. ( not gransnetters I'm sure. Usually big burly men!)

An older frail person may well find difficulty getting into a higher chair a simple step up block should be provided maybe 6-8 inches high that slides under chair when not used.
I am sure the phlebotomist does need a set height and angle to
find the vein easily.

Thank you for all your replies. I will definitely ask for the chair to be lowered next time or for another chair that is comfortable and safe for me as well as for the Phlebotomist.