SdepRN

I work on a peds med/surg floor and on all new admissions, the doctors have to draw labs & start IVs... after that, it falls on nursing. However, we are lucky enough to have doctors that are willing to help you out. If I know I am not going to get an IV on a dehydrated chubby 10mo & its 3am, the kid is screaming, the parents are upset, I will page the doctor to see if they can try. Otherwise, we as nurses have to try once before we call the docs. I haven't been a nurse that long & I get extremely nervous when it comes time to start an IV on anyone less than 5yo but I just bite the bullet & go for it... more times that not I have been successful. Its just a matter of getting experience.

In my hospital we really don't have a policy either. There have been times when the child in in the bed & Mom, Dad, Grandma, & siblings are squeezed into the room; some on the pull out couch, chair & even floor. It gets pretty rediculous. A lot of people make the hospital their own hotel.