Never placed an IV!!!!!

Nurses General Nursing

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I'm not sure what to do and this sounds ridiculous! I just started a new position and realized I have never placed an IV and I have never stuck anyone for blood - my last job had IV team and phlebotomy. Does anyone have any advice how to learn very quickly!! I looked at community colleges but they only offer courses that last weeks...I need to learn asap! Thanks for any advice you have to offer.

Yeah right. SMH!

I would rather go to a good school that did not teach us this than to a bad school that did. Fortunately I went to the former.

again...how "good" can a school be that doesn't teach the most basic of nursing skills?

seriously, there are junkies who can learn to access veins overnight. that's just embarrassing.

Yeah right. SMH!

I would rather go to a good school that did not teach us this than to a bad school that did. Fortunately I went to the former.

Paco69, are you serious?

What constitutes a "good school" to you?

Specializes in Acute Mental Health.

We had the basics in school and practiced on a big huge old arm with big huge veins that had puncture marks in them from the thousands of sticks beforehand. I wanted to do some in clinical, but only had 2 pts that needed them and refused to let any students attempt. I can't blame them, it's hard enough to be a pt and most people hate needle sticks. My 8 hr clinical in ER actually got a few in but only landed about half. I recall being exhausted by the end of the night.

I too believe it's something that you get much better at the more you do it. How can you master that in nursing school? With so many other things to learn, most teachers will tell you that you'll get it when your working. Where I work, phleb comes in to draw. I don't think sticks are that important to get down while your a student. Just my :twocents:

i guess i was smart enough to at least ACT confident....cus lord knows i didn't know what i was doing, but the patients never objected to me starting IVs or drawing blood as a student. i had a name badge that said nursing student, but i don't know if they even noticed. well, my scrubs also had my school embroidered on the breast. i just walked in as if i knew what i was doing and i don't think they thought anything of it.

of course, i had a nurse one time say to a man who i was getting ready to draw blood from, "i have a student with me. i told her you'd be a good guinea pig," which i thought was the stupidest thing in the world, but i quickly spoke up and said, "well, i have done this a few times..don't worry." actually, after i started my first IV, the guy said, "are you finished? i didn't even feel it go in. you must do this a lot." at which time i told him he was my first one LOL. i think sometimes when you're new you can be more gentle because you're afraid of hurting the patient...JMO. of course, some of the most respected doctor's offices and clinics all over the area have my school's name in the title so i think people liked seeing someone with the school's ID coming toward them. they have a good reputation and one of the top medical schools. it's kind of crazy actually in my area how much people take pride in the local university displaying bumper stickers and even yard signs. that could make a difference in the willingness of people, i suppose.

Specializes in ICU / PCU / Telemetry / Oncology.

I actually learned how to draw blood and start an IV in capstone from my preceptor, but it wasn't something we learned in lab first ... and not everyone got to learn that on their capstone rotations. Basically, good schools don't teach you everything, but they give you the opportunity to learn everything. At least that is true where I went to school, and they have a great rep in the metro area for producing top-notch nurses.

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Specializes in ICU.

Wow, there is so much hate towards modern-day nursing students and recent grads- please understand that we follow state laws and school/hospital policies which PROHIBIT nursing students from performing venipuncture (and hanging/checking blood as someone else brought up). Believe me, I would have LOVED to learn these skills in nursing school; it simply wasn't an option. For those of you who feel so strongly about this issue, I suggest you petition the law and/or policy makers in your area. Don't take it out on us.

Wow, there is so much hate towards modern-day nursing students and recent grads- please understand that we follow state laws and school/hospital policies which PROHIBIT nursing students from performing venipuncture (and hanging/checking blood as someone else brought up). Believe me, I would have LOVED to learn these skills in nursing school; it simply wasn't an option. For those of you who feel so strongly about this issue, I suggest you petition the law and/or policy makers in your area. Don't take it out on us.

maybe in your area....not in mine. as i said, i was allowed to start IVs, flush PICCs, give meds through peg tubes, draw blood, insert foleys, etc, etc.....and there are students on the floor right now (from the school i went to) who are doing the same things.

and nobody is "taking it out" on you. if you read my first reply, i said, "totally not your fault....but what SCHOOL did you go to?"

any school of nursing that doesn't teach the very basics of nursing is not an "excellent" or even "good" school.

For those of you who feel so strongly about this issue, I suggest you petition the law and/or policy makers in your area. Don't take it out on us.

This goes way beyond the lack of skill in IV starts.

The fact that so many have said they didn't learn these basic nursing skills, makes me worry what else you didn't learn.

You can learn IV skills on the job, even if you should have the skill already.

But what if the curriculum also skimped on pharmacology? Disease process?

I would never have assumed that new nurses were being turned out incompetent to practice, except so many of you said you didn't learn the most basic of skills.

you can learn iv skills on the job, even if you should have the skill already.

but what if the curriculum also skimped on pharmacology? disease process?

exactly. this thread really was brand new news to me that nursing students didn't learn basic skills in school. i mentioned all of the things i "got to do" as a student, but along with doing those skills came the right of the preceptor to grill me about the medications i was giving, why they were being given, what symptoms "we" would be watching for, etc.

i would never have assumed that new nurses were being turned out incompetent to practice, except so many of you said you didn't learn the most basic of skills.

i'm interested now to know if this is a state thing or a school thing. i know it's legal in my state because i did it and i see it happening now. i also know that i was "working" under my instructor's license. therefore, if anything went wrong...the instructor was responsible. maybe it's a liability issue through individual schools? i can't imagine that the very board who sets the standards for nursing programs would prohibit students from learning what they require.

apparently, we are the only ones baffled by this. that's fine by me!

Specializes in ICU.

I just wanted to clarify my previous post- I didn't mean that all states/schools/hospitals prohibit venipuncture by nursing students; simply that that's the case where I went to school.

And yes, we had rigorous pharmacology, pathophysiology, etc etc etc coursework. Don't worry. :)

There are many things that make a good nurse and while starting IVs is an excellent skill, skills are not all that go into being a good nurse. I precept and can teach a skill to anyone- what I cannot necessarily teach is that thinking piece that is so crucial to being a good nurse. Excellent skills are important but the understanding behind those makes the difference.

Oh- and I have yet to start an IV on a patient and I've been a nurse for years. Not missing out in my opinion- I utilize other skills and critical thinking constantly, so it truly isn't fair to generalize about IV skills being so crucial.

i don't think anyone is saying that someone who can't start an IV is a "bad nurse."

i personally am just surprised that nursing schools aren't teaching that skill and other skills since they are pretty basic skills of nursing. i would like to think that in a disaster or emergency situation that a registered nurse would know how to give someone fluids or whatever the case may be. you can read about how to start an IV all day long, but if you haven't done it...you're screwed. to ME...those are basic skills and they are crucial, but everyone has their own comfort levels.

of course the critical thinking is important as well, but what good is being able to "critically think" about a situation that you can't handle? if you're a LPN...that's one thing. it makes sense that a licensed PRACTICAL nurse would know how to do a skill and not necessarily know all the "hows and whys" behind it. i would expect that a RN and especially a BSN nurse know how to do the skill AND the hows and whys behind it.

this is exactly why there is such a huge disconnect between academics and the real world. there are so many "professors" out there teaching people how to do things that they have never actually even done themselves! i'm sorry, but if you lecture me about how to start an IV, how to tell if it's infiltrated, what infiltrated means, etc, etc....and then we walk up to a patient and you can't pick out the supplies to even start one....you're a joke. JMO.

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