IV tips and tricks

women have the "rule of thumb". theres almost always a vein that comes off of the thumb where the forearm begins. look around, youll see im right.

Nurses eat their young is ad nauseam- seems like you have it down pat though?

any patient, and i mean any patient who has even the slightest chance of being a surgical patient, be it an AP or abd pain or trauma, should have a large bore iv 18g or less. the anesthesiologist will put a second larger line in if you dont.

anyone receiving anticoagulant clot busting therapy like TPA or equivalent should have three lines, one 18 or 16 gauge for blood draws before the med is given. pop away.

even if you dont know what you are doing, try and make it seem like you do. be professional, dont let your hands shake, and read your patient. their eyes can tell you alot.

TIE THE TOURNIQUETTE TIGHT. DONT FORGET TO TAKE IT OFF!

good luck if i think of more, ill post it later.

I beg to differ about the sizes of cannulas listed above. It used to be a trend years ago to throw the biggest IV into the patient that they can handle. Not so anymore. Chances of phlebitis increases with increased sizes of IV cannulas.

I cannot imagine putting 16ga IV's into a patient in an emergency room. If this patient is a victim of multiple trauma or multiple GSW or stab wounds maybe. Usually those come in with larger bore IV's anyway.

Our hospital has now become very adamant about not starting large bore IV's. Even our pre op patients go in with a #20 in. I can give any med (including blood) through a #22 if I need to, and believe it or not. A #22 is the recommended size to prevent phlebitis. We use #20's for CTA of chest and cardiac caths, and sometimes you cant even get a #20 in them. Go with whatever you can get.