IV Starts

we don't practice IV sticks in our school. we are just told we will learn when we're on the floor when we get our first job.

We get our practice in the SIM lab with a dummy.

SIM arms for a couple tries, which is great for learning the technique/steps involved and then on each other. I started my first IV on my instructor. I let probably 7 or 8 people start ones on me cause I have great veins.

We don't learn IV's / blood draws in my program. I've learned and done both in my internship, though.

We had only lab dummies to stick for the most part. The best thing you can do is request time in the E.R. doing NOTHING but one I.V. stick after another.

We didn't practice IV starts on each other

Instead we used mannequin arms. They had a little bag of "fake blood" that you would pump (the pumping thing looks just like the ones on BP cuffs) prior to sticking so that you would get a blood return. We had arms and hands to practice with. Of course, practicing on a mannequin helps to learn the steps, but it doesn't equate to real-world experience. Drawing blood or starting an IV on a real person is different than on a mannequin!