A
phlebotomist draws blood for
medical uses. This includes both
testing of various types as well as
donating blood.
Registered nurses are trained as phlebotomists, though the reverse is not true.
My ex-girlfriend worked as a phlebotomist at the UCLA Blood Bank before going to medical school. She would often grab my arm and start feeling around on the inside of my elbow. Oh, there's a good one, she would say as she found a vein. There's another. She told me that I would be "easy", that my blood vessels were nice and spongy. It was just a little bit creepy.