Calling for IV Starts

iluvivt, BSN, RN · Apr 23, 2016

You have to remember that not everyone has the skill to assess for veins. I can't get annoyed at nurses that call me for IV starts,I just do it and trust that they could not! The patient benefited because you were there and that is what matters!

allnurses Guide · Apr 23, 2016

You have to remember that not everyone has the skill to assess for veins. I can't get annoyed at nurses that call me for IV starts,I just do it and trust that they could not! The patient benefited because you were there and that is what matters!

I concur! I am pretty good at IV starts having been named affectionately "The IV Whisperer" at the LTC where I worked. I like the practice and challenge and the patient benefits from not being tortured. I just work Per diem there now and only for IV starts for which I get paid $60.00/h 4 hour minimum to come in and do it.

Hppy

AJJKRN · Apr 23, 2016

I agree with the PP's to a certain extent but where I work we have a designated nurse with critical care experience that goes around throughout the house and helps with codes, trouble-shooting, and DIFFICULT IV starts.

I think my know what the OPs frustration is directed at but correct me if I'm wrong But...

Whats been happening more so lately where I work is that the nurses (new and seasoned) are all calling for IVs on fairly easy IV starts instead of trying first. This is just not the best use of the nurses time and the nurses calling aren't developing/strengthening their own IV skills.

I'd be embarrassed to call on an easy IV start myself but IV's are one of my favorite things to do. Now if I can't find anything and options are limited (limb alert, etc), I have no qualms about calling for help.

applesxoranges, BSN, RN · Apr 23, 2016

We had to post-pone doing the IV start for at least an hour or two because we were busy but I suddenly discharged all my patients. They also wanted to use the ultrasound machine on her (I suck at it although I was trained). I sort of feel like they wrote her off as a drug user. She did use drugs but her veins were really good hence why I let the resident start one.

Pepper The Cat, BSN, RN · Apr 25, 2016

I want to get better at IV starts. I really do. But sometimes I'm afraid to try because I might blow the only good vein there is.

plus, lately, I've had so many fails that my self-confidence is gone. I psych myself out before I even try.

Additionally, I am finding that now I have moved to bi- focal a, my perception is off and that effects my success rate

BeckyESRN · Apr 26, 2016

It's frustrating when there a serial offenders asking for IV starts. I get that you think the patient will bad veins, but unless you've looked, you just don't know. I had no problem at all starting IVs for anyone that needed them, but I also have stuff to do, so your patient and my supplies need to ready for when I walk in. I loved starting IVs, I could get one on just about anyone, but it sucked to be called away from my patients to start and IV on a patient with perfectly beautiful veins.

applesxoranges, BSN, RN · Apr 27, 2016

This is also on a different floor than the ER plus it took us some time due to our own patients.

summerly · Apr 27, 2016

You won't get better unless you try twice. If you have 2 failed IV attempts on a patient then ask for help - we will still be able to get an IV.

klmartin08 · Apr 28, 2016

As hospitals become graded more and more by patient satisfaction surveys I wonder if nurses find it better to have the designated IV team to do the job. At our hospital the urology department cracked down on infections from ER inserted foleys, making a second person watch your every move for sterility. Practical idea.. So, the nurses started paging the urology team for every insertion. Infection rates changed only slightly ...but often floor nurses find its easier to call in the team for whatever than deal with possible negative consequences down the road, being at fault or not.

applesxoranges, BSN, RN · Apr 29, 2016

I know in my experience, sometimes it just needs a 2nd person to look. However, we're talking a floor of nurses that could have looked instead of calling down to the ER. We didn't have a chance to get there quickly. It took me close to an hour and their third call. They were calling for ultrasound too.

I do think part of it was related to the label of being a drug user which she didn't use that side if she injected (I don't know what she did).

Ellie G · Apr 30, 2016

I'm the one they call for IV starts. It's great if the floor nurses want to try first, and they need to if they are to improve their skills, but they need to try correctly. Don't go high up if there are veins below. If you fail, hold pressure at the site and don't just slap on a 2x2 and some tape. That big hematoma you just caused limits the space available for future sticks and the pt starts to look as though he/she has been beaten. I've gone into rooms to start an IV and the Pt will have 6 2x2s with big hematomas underneath them. One of the questions on the Press Ganey survey is related to "skill of the nurses" and the most common procedure a patient associates with "skill" is IV starts.