Student Attempted IV 7 Times

[ChickenHealer]

Not sure where to post this but I saw something today in clinical that was just eating me up. My school has an agreement with a few clinical sites to allow students to return to clinical early, and I saw something today that made me very uncomfortable. A nurse allowed myself and another student to go into her (sedated) patient's room, and offered to let us start an IV. IV insertion is strictly prohibited and the clinical coordinator specifically told us not to even attempt it, as it can result in "major consequences". I told this to the nurse, but my classmate decided to try to insert the IV anyway. The classmate poked the patient 1, then 2, then 3.... until the nurse finally stopped her, at 7 attempts. 7 insertions, including one on a different site which was not cleaned. 

The school's clinical coordinator showed up on site about 30 minutes after the event, and she asked me if we had gotten to do any IVs. I had the feeling that she knew about it, and I told her about my classmates IV attempts. It turns out that she had no idea about the event, she just happened to show up and ask. She was angry at me for reporting it and told me not to tell anyone about it, or there would be consequences. The student and I are paired to go into the ED this week, and she was going on about how she hopes that we'll have more tries at starting IVs and that she'll make sure I can do it next.

I have no idea what to do. I feel that if I report it further, the clinical coordinator will do something to take it out on me. I can't stop thinking about how that patient was sedated and didn't have any idea a student was involved in their care, the potential pain, or the risk of infection from all of those repeated insertions, including a site that wasn't cleaned at all. 

[Chickenlady]

I don't think that was the best thing for the patient, but I doubt there will be lasting effects.  

I would probably tell my partner that I had found out we weren't supposed to do IVs and we should keep it on the down low and not make the same mistake again. 

[caliotter3]

Ditto what Chickenlady said. If your partner doesn’t get the hint, then tell her what happened with the clinical coordinator and insist that it not be repeated. Why risk both of you being booted?

[MunoRN, RN]

How did the nurse stop her after the 7th attempt if the nurse wasn't in the room while this was going on?

[sevensonnets]

And then the clinical coordinator shows up 30 minutes after said event.

[ChickenHealer]

9 hours ago, MunoRN said:

How did the nurse stop her after the 7th attempt if the nurse wasn't in the room while this was going on?

The nurse was in the room with the student. I meant alone as in without help. The nurse just stood there doing nothing. Sorry, I was freaking out last night thinking about it and messed up my title.

 

41 minutes ago, sevensonnets said:

And then the clinical coordinator shows up 30 minutes after said event.

Our coordinators are required to show up to clinical sites a few times each semester. Last semester was the same way.

[Emergent, RN]

This story doesn't make sense to me. 

[JKL33]

I'm afraid to ask.

PLEASE tell me that a representative of your school is on-site 100% of the time during clinicals and it isn't just this clinical coordinator person who shows up a few times a semester....

Plus your clinical coordinator is a person of poor judgment.

This sucks!!

 

13 hours ago, ChickenHealer said:

The student and I are paired to go into the ED this week, and she was going on about how she hopes that we'll have more tries at starting IVs and that she'll make sure I can do it next.

Who cares about this. YOU do what you are supposed to be doing. Nothing more, nothing less. Separate yourself from this person. You don't have to be joined at the waist. Find an ED nurse to shadow during your ED experience and stick to what you are supposed to be doing.

[speedynurse, ADN, BSN, RN, EMT-P]

I don’t quite understand the story because you mentioned that the clinical coordinator said not to do IV sticks and then when a student did, you basically said the coordinator didn’t follow through with her own rules. I am also puzzled about a patient getting stuck 7 times. That’s very unusual for a nurse to allow that under her license. I generally will allow a student two tries because let’s face it, even the most proficient of us will have bad IV days or blow lines. It happens. 7 times? I am puzzled as to this....

[JadedCPN, BSN, RN]

There are a lot of things that don't sound right and don't add up with this story.

-Why would your clinical coordinator ask if you guys got to do any IV attempts when you stated that she specifically said it was prohibited.

-Why would she not want you to tell anyone, and why would she threaten you? (except that maybe she thinks she would get in trouble for it happening).

-Why would a bedside nurse allow anyone (let alone an inexperienced student) to stick their patient 7 times at once.

Thankfully this shouldn't have any long term effects on the patient, although it definitely should not have happened. In regards to pairing up with this student in the future, focus on yourself and make sure you are following all the rules. If you're truly concerned that your coordinator will retaliate, then just keep to yourself and do what you're told unless something truly jeopardizes patient safety. 

Going forward once you become a nurse though, this is a scenario where you should speak up and advocate for the patient. 

[ChickenHealer]

Thanks for you guys who gave me advice. I will just be sticking to what I know we're allowed to do. An update, I talked to my classmate about it, and she had admitted that even though I mentioned that we weren't allowed to do the IV insertion, she didn't want to miss a chance at it on a real person. She said when she started, she got so nervous and forgot everything, and was just trying to go as fast as she could and ended up messing up a lot. She apologized for making me uncomfortable and we had a good conversation. We scheduled to go to the skill sim center and practice on the mannequin together later today. 

1 hour ago, JKL33 said:

I'm afraid to ask.

PLEASE tell me that a representative of your school is on-site 100% of the time during clinicals and it isn't just this clinical coordinator person who shows up a few times a semester....

So, We have a clinical instructor who unfortunately is overseeing groups of students on med surg, ED, ICU, and PCU throughout the hospital. She tells us to send a text or call if we need something, and honestly I only saw her that day one time, when she dropped us off at the unit. The school's clinical coordinator drops by each site occasionally, last semester I saw her twice. We're pretty much alone for most of the clinical, which while it gives us room to grow under the floor nurses, it can lead to situations like this. 

[JKL33]

3 minutes ago, ChickenHealer said:

So, We have a clinical instructor who unfortunately is overseeing groups of students on med surg, ED, ICU, and PCU throughout the hospital. She tells us to send a text or call if we need something,

Okay. Don't hesitate to do this if you have any question about what you are to be doing or are unsure about an opportunity that is proposed to you while you're onsite. ??