When did you become competent with starting an IV and blood draws

Nurses General Nursing

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Ok so I'm a new nurse with one week and a half into orientation and yesterday I had my second unsuccesfull attempt in starting an IV...My preceptor must be really thinking I'm slow to learn...I feel I will never learn able to feel the right vein or find it..I really regret I didnt get IV certified or phlebotomy certified prior to starting my first job in a hospital setting..It is worth to mention that we do not have any IV team or phlebotomist,we are responsible for our blood draws and starting/changing IVs..I was really curious as to how long did it take for the nurses to feel comfortable with locating and puncturing veins,any words of wisdom,advice,tips..I trying to sign up for a phlebotomy workshop at the end of this month..I'm under a high level of stress,I work on a cardiac step down unit (telemetry)..I came to this floor without prior hospital experience..I love my floor,my coworkers,patients and even most of the doctors..I also like cardiac specialization-I find it interesting and dont imagine myself going into med-surg now (which I wanted for my first nursing job)...I worry a lot since everything is basically new to me and on top of that I have to deal with a lot of new information,a lot of new nursing procedures.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.

I didn't get competent and comfortable until I was forced to start IV's day in and day out, up to 8 or 10 a day in an outpatient surgical setting.

Since you're still on orientation, think about requesting a day on the Day Surgery unit, or whatever it's called @ your facility. You need a chance to try, try and try, then try again. You have to do it time after time to develop a feel and that's really hard if you're only starting one or two IV's a week.

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request to have some ER rotation. Most IVs are started in ER. floor nurses do not get the chance to start IV's that often.

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Specializes in PICU, Pediatrics, Pediatric Home Health.

I have been a nurse for almost 2 years (pediatric ICU) and still not competent. I work on a floor where most of our IV's are started in the ER or in the Trauma ED. And the majority of our patients have central lines.

It took me a few months to be fairly competent with blood draws but I still miss a few here and there.

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Specializes in med/surg/tele/LTC/geriatrics.

Talk to your coworkers what techniqes they use, watch them when they start IVs. You will probably find a techniqe that works best for you, and realize that even when you consider yourself "experienced" you still have weeks where you can't hit anything.

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Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.

I bet some of your nurse coworkers might be willing to volunteer an arm. I've volunteered myself several times to new nurses.

I didn't feel really proficient until I was working as an RN for about 6-12 months. I work in OB, so we get lots of opportunities, and I would always volunteer to start another nurse's patient.

Where I work, the RNs don't do blood draws; we have phlebotomists that will come up to do that. The exception is with the babies - I prefer to collect blood myself for babies, rather than to use the phlebs.

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Specializes in med/surg/tele/neuro/rehab/corrections.

I just got my confidence with IV's! :) I just did some time in an Urgent Care for school and started three a day and did blood draws. Great experience! :D Doing them just once or twice a month on my job wasn't enough for me to learn. Find a way to go to another unit that does lots of IV starts like same day surgery or ER. ;)

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Specializes in LTC Family Practice.

I learned at a teaching hospital in a Family Practice clinic, our patient population were not all young and healthy and although 90% of my sticks were for blood draws, I still did a few IV's. I did so many every day that it came very quickly. I did everything from just discharged premies to the obese and elderly, at the time I didn't think much of it but now I realize what a learning gift it was. It's not just learning the A&P of veins but a "feel" for a good vein. A lot of times patients will tell you where to stick them if they are regulars - listen to them, they don't want to get stuck any more than they have too..LOL. It can be hard to learn because you are under stress to learn and it hurts and the patient is sitting or laying right there watching you.

There is a very very good thread on here about starting IV's with step by step instructions and it's fairly recent...do a search for it.

Good luck!

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Specializes in Nurse Scientist-Research.

I had a total of 2 opportunities in clinicals to practice IV skills before I graduated. I got one and missed one. Sad how little clinical skills were emphasized in our program.

Once I started my 1st RN job, I couldn't seem to hit anything the first few times and only had 6 weeks orientation. So I became hesitant to attempt IV's. Our floor would call the nursing supervisor for challenging IV's so I was always calling the supervisor. She asked me one night if I was attempting these before I called her. She was nice about it but back then I was very touchy and I felt chastened, but mind you, looking back, she was very kind in the way she asked me this. I was kind of afraid to call her again (I had my feelings hurt) and started at least attempting to resite my own IV's. Oddly enough, I started hitting them. Within a year I was considered competent and within 2 years I was considered a go-to person for IV's.

You know what else made a difference to me? After I started attempting my own, getting semi-competent and only calling the supervisor for the truly tough cases, my manager got a letter. She showed it to me, it was from the above mentioned supervisor. She wrote my manager about how she had noted in the last couple of months that I had become a particularly strong IV starter and that if I called her for help she knew it was only on the toughest patients. I believe she was overstating my skills at that point but still, I treasured that letter and believe it gave me the confidence try even harder and become the expert IV starter I eventually became.

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Blood draws within the first year as we had to do them every night at 4 a.m. on night shift. But I was very anxious about it. Now I can usually get 95% of my blood draws.

IV's definitely took longer. I work dayshift now and rarely have to do them, because our techs do them, but occasionally I put in my own if I have time.

It's one of those things. Crucial to know how to do AT TIMES, but not always necessary.

I consider it a good skill to have, though. I'm finally comfortable w/ both now after about 2 years on a floor. I'm not good at the "hard sticks, " though. We call in the good techs or the IV team for that.

I'm always excited after I get an IV. Got one in front of my bosses one time and I was especially feeling good after that. :nurse:

Still, if I want to go home on time, I've got to delegate most of my labs and IV's. Sorry techs!!

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because our techs do them

The techs do IV's?!

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It really depends on your floor. One unit I work I do a bunch of blood draws a day every weekend ( I have a phlebotomy license) my other unit I do about an IV a day . My suggestion would be to tell the other nurses that you want to do their IV's for their patients and they will offer them up freely.

I honestly only did one blood draw and about 6 IV's total in nursing school. Im so thankful my jobs have nurses who love nursing students.

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