Am I the only one that's done this?

Nurses General Nursing

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Has anyone else attempted to perform a blood draw or IV on themselves for practice? I'm asking for a friend ;)

Specializes in Med/Surg/ICU/Stepdown.

Not at all.

A friend of mine Snapchatted his attempt at starting an IV on himself for a fluid bolus after a night of heavy drinking. His bathroom looked like a murder scene. I think I rest my case.

Specializes in Labor and Delivery.

I never have I'm too scared but my husband (EMT) does all the time!

Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

Curious as to how the people who do this obtained the equipment. Because they don't sell it at WalMart. So i would have to assume it's stolen from one's employer, right?

Curious as to how the people who do this obtained the equipment. Because they don't sell it at WalMart. So i would have to assume it's stolen from one's employer, right?

I googled "sterile IV start kit," and plenty are available for purchase online.

Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.

Yes. Sometimes when I would get home, I'd find cathlons and tourniquets in my scrub jacket pockets. I didn't intentionally take the stuff home to practice; it just sort of happened. We'd let someone new with no IV exp. practice on us. This was quite a long time ago...close to 20y.

In addition, my nursing school required us to purchase a package of supplies to practice with in lab, and we used maybe 25% of it. Perhaps OP has some supplies left over, as well.

I come close to passing out when I get my blood drawn or an IV started on me by someone else. i sure as hell would pass out if I tried doing it myself. Scratch that, I'd never even get close to being able to do it. Not long ago I was feeling really odd and it felt just like it did when my blood sugar dropped fast and I passed out.

Soooo, I *attempted* to do a finger stick for my blood sugar..every time I attempted to push the lancet, I freaked and stopped. Had to have a co-worker do it.

I need two hands to work with which would make it hard to start one in my hands or arms. I also have really good veins. What I need is practice with bad veins.

Specializes in ER.

I thought you were going to ask if you're the only one who misspelled a word in your user name. ;)

Specializes in Public Health.

I have. Found supplies in my pockets from work and started a 20g in my right hand. Patent too.

I need two hands to work with which would make it hard to start one in my hands or arms. I also have really good veins. What I need is practice with bad veins.

You wanna practice on me? I have terrible viens. I've wanted to practice on myself for that reason, but never had the nerve. One day maybe.

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