New Grad

You could always practice on an orange! No, but really I think it just takes practice. After you do a few, it becomes more comfortable. I always pinch the skin and inject for SQ shots. We don't give many IM shots in my hospital, besides flu/pneumonia vaccines. Those are always in the deltoid muscle and are easy. But, like I said before, practice, practice, practice! You'll do fine. Oh, and act like you've done a million before towards your patient so they don't get uptight. If you look nervous while giving an injection, it will make them nervous as well!!

Get ready, aim, fire!

When giving a subcutaneous injection, you pinch the skin, because you dont want the medicine to go any deeper than that pinched area.

When giving an IM injection, flatten the skin, hold the syringe like a dart, and jab the needle into the site as fast as possible. Now take your hand that you used to flatten the skin and steady the needle as you retract the plunger to assure there is no blood return so you have not accidentally entered a vein. After you inject the medicine, withdraw the needle just as fast as you inserted it. The key to giving a shot with the least pain is the speed at which you insert and withdraw the needle, so do both super-fast!

I don't really have anything to add to the above posters, but I can understand what you're feeling. I'm a new grad as well, working in a hospital, and recently got to give my first IM injection. I was nervous at first, but after it was done, I realized that it wasn't really so bad.

Just...warn your patient when the stick will be coming and as BradleyRN said, dart the needle in and then pull it out quickly.

Good luck!

I find the best thing is to read up on proper technique and how to locate sites. Then talk it through with senior nurses who are willing to teach. Ask them if you can locate correct inject site placement on them or patients and have them verify correct placement. As well talk about needle size and depth depending on the persons body build. Nothing beats being well prepaired and supervised until you are ready to fly solo!

I don't really have anything to add to the above posters, but I can understand what you're feeling. I'm a new grad as well, working in a hospital, and recently got to give my first IM injection. I was nervous at first, but after it was done, I realized that it wasn't really so bad.

Just...warn your patient when the stick will be coming and as BradleyRN said, dart the needle in and then pull it out quickly.

Good luck!

Yes, don't forget to warn your patient. I forgot to once and the patient called the nursing supervisor on me who told the patient that the way I gave her the SQ injection was the correct way. LOL. The supervisor happened to be one of the clinical instructors at the CC I went to.