Where Do The IV's Get Started

1. I am an OR nurse. Our hospital starts all IV's on day surgery by the RN. I know most hospitals start them in the OR usually by the anaesthetist. What does your hospital do?

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2. 

   About ajaxgirl

   Joined: Aug '03; Posts: 333; Likes: 46
   RN

   9 Comments

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3. 
   Aug 7, '03

   Where I work IV's are started in holding--generally by the nurses , but sometimes by anesthesia.
   Honestly, I think it is best to have them started before the patient goes into the OR so that they can get some Versed, or something along those lines, before they are actually wheeled into the OR.
   For Pediatric patients, IV's are often started in the OR, after the child is "masked down" with gas first, or after getting Versed syrup in holding.
4. 
   Aug 12, '03

   It kind of depends on the time of year here. LOL. Most of the time, they're started by the pre-op RNs. September-May, we have a lot of paramedic students who need to get their 25 IVs done, so we have them come in and do sticks in pre-op. If there are a lof of procedures that day, we'll sometimes have patients go to ER to have their lines started. Anesthesia only does the difficult ones.
5. 
   Aug 13, '03

   The RN's in our pre-op area start the IV's on all of the surgical patients. If it is a small child we often go to the OR after they have been given gas and start it or sometimes they are sedated enough after the oral versed to allow us to start the IV.
6. 
   Nov 3, '03

   At our hospital, IV's are generally started by the Pre-Op Holding nurses. If the case is an exceptionally hard stick, then it's by anesthesia. For peds, it's usually in the OR after they've been masked down.
7. 
   Nov 4, '03

   The anesthetists here like to pick their own site and size so they do it themselves. If we start one on the floor they often will start their own in the OR because they didn't like ours.
8. 
   Nov 5, '03

   anaesthetist in the or.
9. 
   Dec 10, '03

   We start ours in the preop area by the RN. The anesthesia department actually gets a bit aggravated with us if we have not at least tried. On pedi's they will start those once they are put to sleep. Otherwise we very seldom see anesthesia start a line. On occasion, we will start the IV with a smaller gauge insyte (tough stick) and then anesthesia will start a bigger bore IV once the patient has been sedated.
10. 
    Dec 16, '03

    Our Anesthetitsts usually prefer to start their own in the OR, and if the nurse on the unit starts it, they will usually restart it anyway.
11. 
    Dec 16, '03

    I had an O/P procedure done a few months ago.I have NO veins to work with they tell me.The 2 poor nurses who were prepping me made the mistake of letting me know they "might have to stick me a couple of times".(each).I told them they had 1 chance to stick me or no IV.I had been poked and prodded multiple times that week.This thread explains why the next person I saw was an anesthesiologist to start the impossible IV.He got it the first time.Wonders what a little lido can do and some patience(and a nice healthy dose of Versed to make the pain in the rear nurse pt go nite-nite-compliments of the anesthesiologist begged for by the nurses caring for me):chuckle Thank goodness for that one in house thats always good at IVs.

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