Iv's and blood draws

[stephera]

How do you first start learning how to draw blood and do iv's? Do you practice on classmates?

[mitchsmom]

Different places do it differently.. on each other, mannequins, oranges, patients... in my program we start directly on patients.

[Fun2, BSN, RN]

In medical assisting school... way back when .... we did injections first on an orange, then each other. This was just to practice technique of how to insert or angle the syringe/needle.

Blood draws were first practiced on a manniquin arm. It had an IV-type bag filled with a pinkish colored fluid. Once you hit the "vein", and you inserted your tube, the tube would fill up with the fluid. Then once we demonstrated we knew what we were doing with the arm, we practiced on each other.

I'd be scared to actually know someone did his/her first injection, or especially his/her first blood draw, on me if I was the patient!! (I wonder if that was the case with a Gluteal IM shot I received once that I still felt a year later!!)

[SmilingBluEyes]

WE used manikin arms then, yes, practiced on each other. That sure sucked.......I am a horrible stick. I still remember 7 years later, how much that hurt to get my vein blown several times before they got it!

[Roy Fokker, BSN, RN]

And I was being so brave so far...

Now y'all got me scared! :rotfl:

[chad75]

We did it on a fake arm, then eachother, then patients. After 6 years its still hit or miss with me, I can walk up to someone that no one else could get an IV started on and hit him/her the very first time with no problems, then get a young patient with awesome veins and blow it .... nothing more frusterating then not being able to get an IV started on a patient that you should be able to hit no problem.

[stephera]

Yea, me too!! I am very hard to stick!! It takes several times before they get it and they usually have to do it in my hand!! Scary....

And I was being so brave so far...

Now y'all got me scared! :rotfl:

[purplemania, BSN, RN]

we did mannikins. But I really learned by doing it on patients. We let our new grads work in the lab or same day surgery half a day just doing phlebotomy. By the end of that shift they are experts! (or nearly so)

[Fun2, BSN, RN]

LOL......I was an easy stick!!! Everyone wanted a chance to draw blood from my veins. I wonder how much blood I lost during that 9 months of training. :chuckle

On the other hand, I loved doing venipuntures...call me a vampire, I guess. It's a challenge on some pt's, but just get out the butterfly and get it done. :)