I built a 3x5 laminated card after a night shift — borrowed the idea from a line cook’s mise en place — and it cut my redraws to zero on a 22-patient run. Happy to share the template if anyone wants it, or tell me if there’s a better one I should try.
On my 3x5 I added a tiny ‘Tourniquet on:’ line and jot the time with a wet-erase; it keeps me under 60 seconds and cut hemolysis on big night runs like your 22-patient shift. If you try it, skip dry-erase — it smears in the pocket.
I added tiny color swatches for order of draw and tick each with a wax pencil as I set up — keeps me from swapping tubes under pressure and wipes clean after the run. > If you try it, skip dry-erase — it smears in the Agree — Stabilo All or a china marker stays put, @beaver804.
@ClinicRhea that timing note is clutch; I use a matte lamination so I can pencil a quick “Name/DOB verbal match” tick and a tiny “bedside label done” box — cuts mislabels when the floor’s loud. Only caveat: keep the card under 6 lines so it reads like a pilot preflight, not a novella.
On those 22‑patient runs, the two boxes that save me are ‘IV side?’ and ‘discard tube?’ — keeps line draws from contaminating K/LDH — and a tiny ‘on anticoagulant?’ tick so I remember to hold pressure longer. If you share the template, I’d add a small ‘hemolyzables: K/LDH/AST’ line; if that clutters the 3×5, a single red dot works.