Tuesday, July 14, 2009

4 Attempts to Start an I.V.- All On Film!

WARNING: If you have a weak stomach, I would suggest not pressing play. These are videos of nurses attempting to start an I.V. on me. Enjoy!









So it took 4 attempts but we finally got one started. I go for my PICC line tomorrow morning. I'm hoping they'll let me film that as it will be even more entertaining.

13 people had something to say...:

Rock CF Em said...

Dude it took two times to get my peripheral placed last week..we both have some tough skin. Luckily my port is an easy poke.

Good luck with the PICC today!

Jonathan Michael said...

That's horrible. I wouldn't have let her try more than once, after that, I do it myself. That first vein you could have driven a truck through. I think the problem was her technique, it seems after she got a flash, she immediately tried to advance the cannula off the needle. People who have frequent venipunctures (and some who don't)often get scar tissue on the vein and it's hard to advance the cannula off the needle if you aren't all the way in with it. In that case she should have tried to advance the needle and cannula a little further and it probably would have been fine (at least the first 2 attempts). On a side note, things must be a little different there as we don't allow PCT's to do any kind of invasive procedures here in PA.

Unknown said...

Jonathan- Very good points. One thing though, the first two attempts were by a student nurse, not a PCT. PCT's here just do vitals and bed changes, and some do blood draws.

Ronnie

Katey said...

I'm so glad I have a port now :) And I would never let a student nurse try and IV on me because I'm such a hard stick and don't have any veins! Good luck with getting your PICC!!

Jonathan Michael said...

Oh right, I was going by her badge in the 2nd vid @ 1:20. Good to hear that she was a student, that must have been one of her first sticks. It's doesn't say much about her instructors thought ;).

Jonathan Michael said...

..Though not thought. Bloody auto text.

Unknown said...

Katey- Believe me, I think your train of thought is right on. I've just always felt that I have good veins and I don't really feel pain during the stick, so I would rather them "experiment" on me rather than some kid.

Ronnie

Anonymous said...

So Sorry it had to take those many times!!! UGH!!!!!!!!!!! You are a trooper! Hang in there and let the healing begin!

Good luck with Picc Line!

Jennifer from IL

bankrgrl said...

Dear Port:

How do I love thee, let me count the ways.

I have to agree with Katey on this one - I'm not one for letting student nurses play with needles (at least not on me). I tend to stick to the rule "three tries and you are out."

Hope your PICC placement goes well.

OceanDesert said...

Ummmmmm, why did that student nurse have a hole in her glove???

You are a nicer person than me... I rarely let 'students' 'do' anything to me... I feel like I've been poked enough.. and it just raises my anxiety level to have newbies working on me.. So thanks for letting them practice on you vs. others! ha!

R u going to be in the hospital for 3 weeks? If so, how come you don't do home ivs?

Unknown said...

Oceandesert aka Cysta Sara: I hope to be here between 2 to 3 weeks only. Over the past 5 years my stays have usually been between 25-30 days. As far as home IV's; my clinic isn't a big fan of them as they haven't seen much improvement for people who are on home antibiotics and I tend to agree with that. I used to do home IV's after brief hospital stays and my PFT's NEVER went up at home.

Jonathan Michael said...

Hmmm that would make an interesting study, home care v. hospitalizations and their effect on PFT's. I can kinda see the pros of both positions. They probably have much more compliance with medication dosing and airway clearance when in the hospital, but hospitals are dirty places and great for cross-contamination. There's something to be said about the comfort of your own home too.

Megan said...

Urgh, nope, can't watch more than a minute of the needle-ness.

If they tried to get a student nurse to take bloods from me/place a cannula or whatever, i'd refuse. I had a horrible experience once where a student nurse wouldn't stab my finger hard enough to get blood for my tobra levels (they don't need much blood, so its easier to do the finger prick method, and she used every single finger I had!!)

Aside from that, I do love student nurses, they usually talk as much as I do :)