IV Practive "arms"

That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Apr 27, 2009

A friend.

Oh wait no lets not open up that debate again.

Yes such a thing exists. You can get them through the internet but they can be pretty pricey. Just an example.

http://www.simulaids.com/120.htm

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Apr 27, 2009

yes, you can buy them, but they are expensive. anyway, they are nothing like the real deal.

it took me over 6 months of starting 2 ivs every day before i got good at it. and, this was on the job. these practice arms have what we call "garden hose" veins. most patients have what i would rate as "mediocre" or "ok" veins when it comes to starting ivs. when i was an iv therapist we only let students start ivs on people with the "garden hose" variety in order to insure their successful stick and we usually had to search for those patients. this is the thinking you need to keep in mind when starting ivs. . .you are putting a rigid pipe into another flexible moving pipe that you cannot see. from there, everything else is strategy and how nimble and dexterous you are with your fingers. see https://allnurses.com/emergency-nursing/iv-tips-tricks-3793.html for all kinds of tricks of the trade.