A convenient way to avoid venipuncture and finger contamination.

To the Editor: Currently, phlebotomists using needles for withdrawing blood, giving intravenous (IV) injections, or inserting over-the-needle catheters customarily wear pairs of unsterile examination gloves to protect themselves from bloodborne pathogens. This is hazardous for patients, especially if the phlebotomist does not hand wash and scrub fingernails before gloving and uses an unsterile gloved finger of the nondominant hand to guide the needle accurately into a selected vein after sterile preparation of the venipuncture site. A safer way to avoid venipuncture contamination and protect phlebotomists from touching blood during IV access procedures might be outlined as follows: 1. Select an optimal site for venipuncture. 2. If a tourniquet is necessary, use a blood pressure cuff, and leave it loose, so that it can be pumped up to desired pressure (eg, 20-30 mm Hg) with the dominant hand just before venipuncture. 3. Sterilely prepare the skin over and around the selected venipuncture site, so that the antiseptic has had time to work before a hollow-bore