Phlebotomist to covid tester
A phlebotomist already meets 42% of what the covid tester role asks for. The move turns on 14 required skills not yet in the profile.
62.6/ 100
1 How much of what a covid tester is expected to do is already part of a phlebotomist’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the covid tester role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A covid tester role treats 11 of its required skills as things a phlebotomist already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- collect biological samples from patients
- communicate in healthcare
- comply with legislation related to health care
- empathise with the healthcare user
- ensure safety of healthcare users
- hygiene in a health care setting
What stands in the way is 14 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 11 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A covid tester role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a phlebotomist background worth leading with.
- already held collect biological samples from patients handling and moving
- already held infection control health and welfare
- already held sterilization techniques health and welfare
- already held medical informatics health and welfare
- already held hygiene in a health care setting services
- already held medical terminology health and welfare
All 11 carried skills, including the 11 the covid tester role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 17 missing skills fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn ensure safety regulations in dealing with infectious diseases required
- still to learn maintain healthcare user data confidentiality required
- still to learn follow clinical guidelines required
- still to learn wear appropriate protective gear required
- still to learn prevent communicable diseases' outbreaks required
- still to learn interview people required
- optional, not held advise patients on infectious diseases when travelling optional
- still to learn health records management required
- still to learn health care legislation required
- still to learn label samples required
- still to learn preserve samples required
- still to learn use electronic health records management system required
- still to learn implement data quality processes required
- still to learn communicable diseases required
- optional, not held nursing principles optional
1 further area in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a covid tester role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 ensure safety regulations in dealing with infectious diseases practise this
- 02 perform PCR covid test practise this
- 03 prevent communicable diseases' outbreaks practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 11 skills that carry over
- already held collect biological samples from patients skill
- already held communicate in healthcare skill
- already held comply with legislation related to health care skill
- already held empathise with the healthcare user skill
- already held ensure safety of healthcare users skill
- already held hygiene in a health care setting knowledge
- already held infection control knowledge
- already held interact with healthcare users skill
- already held medical informatics knowledge
- already held medical terminology knowledge
- already held sterilization techniques knowledge
The 1 learning area not shown above
- still to learn perform PCR covid test required
- optional, not held drive vehicles optional
3 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held advise patients on infectious diseases when travelling optional
- optional, not held drive vehicles optional
- optional, not held nursing principles optional
26 held skills the covid tester role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role assist patients with special needs skill
- not needed by the target role blood collection on babies knowledge
- not needed by the target role blood donation knowledge
- not needed by the target role blood product storage conditions knowledge
- not needed by the target role blood transfusion knowledge
- not needed by the target role blood type classification knowledge
- not needed by the target role conduct cancer screening tests skill
- not needed by the target role conduct routine blood testing skill
- not needed by the target role explain the molecular basis of a disease to patients skill
- not needed by the target role human anatomy knowledge
- not needed by the target role human physiology knowledge
- not needed by the target role label blood samples skill
- not needed by the target role label medical laboratory samples skill
- not needed by the target role maintain professional records skill
- not needed by the target role manage infection control in the facility skill
- not needed by the target role monitor basic patients signs skill
- not needed by the target role paediatric phlebotomy procedures knowledge
- not needed by the target role perform reconstructive microsurgery skill
- not needed by the target role perform venepuncture procedures skill
- not needed by the target role respond to healthcare users' extreme emotions skill
- not needed by the target role techniques of blood-sampling knowledge
- not needed by the target role transport blood samples skill
- not needed by the target role use foreign languages in patient care skill
- not needed by the target role use technical equipment for sterilisation skill
- not needed by the target role use venepuncture procedure equipment skill
- not needed by the target role work in multidisciplinary health teams skill
4 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn health records management required
- still to learn communicable diseases required
- still to learn health care legislation required
- optional, not held nursing principles optional
Common questions about this move
Can a phlebotomist become a covid tester?
Yes, and it is a substantial move. A phlebotomist already covers 42% of what a covid tester is expected to do: 11 skills carry over, 11 of which the covid tester role treats as required.
What skills does a phlebotomist need to become a covid tester?
14 required skills are missing, plus 3 optional ones. They fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by assisting and caring. The single most important is ensure safety regulations in dealing with infectious diseases.
How hard is the move from phlebotomist to covid tester?
Its learning distance is 62.6 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.