kharley

We don't even have IV supplies in our supply pyxis. The IV team brings all their supplies with them. If we wanted to start an IV we'd have to go borrow from an ICU unit.

We have an IV therapy team that is wonderful. Our hospital started the IV therapy team as another step in preventing infection. The fewer times a patient is stuck, the fewer sites for infection to enter the body. There are a few of the IV therapy team that are dedicated to inserting PICC lines, but they are only there during the day and every other weekend. Usually there's less than a 15 minute wait for a new site, but occasionally they are back-logged and we might have to wait up to an hour (this is on night shift). They are also responsible for central line cap and dressing changes, PICC line dressing changes, as well as attending all codes. The only downside (for me personally) is that I graduated 2 years ago and except for about 10 IV starts during school clinicals, I've not had an opportunity to start any IVs to develop any IV skills.