Blood draws

[ThePrincessBride, MSN, RN, NP]

Hey everyone,

So I got a new job as a nurse's aide a few months ago. At my job, we do blood draws. I have been able to get some successful draws (by luck and b/c patient had "good" veins), but I find myself struggling and becoming a tad frustrated. Even when I get a flashback, the blood "freezes" (doesn't go into the tube or stops near the vacutainer).

Any tips for a newbie? :)

Thanks everyone! I'm afraid that I will NEVER get it down pack.

[Keep_Calm]

If you get a flashback and then it stops, it could be that the needle is up against the wall of the vein. Try pulling back ever so slightly and readjusting.

[Racer15, BSN, RN]

Sometimes when I get flashback but no blood, if I apply some traction to the skin just before the needle, that does the trick.

[brownbook]

I actually learned this from an IV drug addict.

When you get the flash but then the blood stops gently tap your finger on the patients skin right over where the tip of the needle is. It can take 8 - 10 gentle taps but IF that vein is going to give you blood you will hopefully see better blood flow. If the blood flows better after these taps you may also be able to slightly readjust your needle and get a good, doesn't need tapping, blood flow.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

Be sure you're not inadvertently leaning on the vein distal to your puncture site-- if you are, you're stopping blood flow in it! When I learned to pay close attention to that my success rate soared.

(and it's "down pat," From the "Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins" by Robert Hendrickson (Facts on File, 1997):

"stand pat. American poker players in the late 19th century invented this expression to indicate that a

player was satisfied with the original hand dealt to him and would draw no more cards.

Where did pat come from? One theory is that because the word meant 'in a manner that fits or agrees with the purpose

or occasion' or 'incapable of being improved' it was a natural for the poker expression. Another holds that

'stand pat' is a corruption of 'stand pad,' an older English expression meaning 'to sell from a stationary

position' and originally referring to peddlers who remained in a fixed location...")

[Good Morning, Gil]

Exactly what the PP said. You don't want to be a "digger," (someone that just moves the needle around in the vein forever until you get blood, not fun for patient), but it is okay to move the needle out slightly or advance it if you get a flashback, and blood flow stops. Also, make sure you anchor the vein prior to drawing blood. Pull the skin taut as you "stick" the patient (especially important for thin skinned elderly people who have the "rolling" type of veins). If you don't do this, you'll find that you end up sticking to the side of the vein. Doh! lol

It's one of those things that just takes practice. Ask to do other people's blood draws if you have time, too.

[twinmommy+2, ADN, BSN, MSN]

What happens when you get a flash then a stoppage of blood flow into the tube is that the needle has sucked up against the side of the vein, you can apply traction like pp said to move the vein off of the needle, or you can move the needle position by lifting slightly on the end.