What good veins should feel like

shrimpchips, LPN · Feb 19, 2009

I have read the threads about starting IV's and have gotten some good advice. We have check-offs Friday on IV starts. The only thing I am unsure off is what a good vein should feel like. My instructor told us they are supposed to bounce. It would help if I had some better example. Any help would be greatly appreciated. :redbeathe

That is how I would describe it, too. Assuming you have good circulation, take a warm washcloth and wrap your hand in it for a bit until the veins sort of "pop" out, then palpate them :)

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Feb 19, 2009

They feel a little like really overcooked spaghetti. Except where the spaghetti would stay smooshed after you pressed on it, the vein will refill and bounce back.

sikesjj · Feb 19, 2009

Bounce and spongy becuase they do bounce back. Go and see your instructor ask her to physically show you so you know. Your instructors are there to help not just torment you, took me a while to figure that one out.

suzanne4, RN · Feb 19, 2009

Best way is just to check your own hands or arms for the veins. You can then get a feel of what they should feel like. If they are flat, just tap on them a little, that will release histamine and cause them to fill up.

Purple_Scrubs, BSN, RN · Feb 19, 2009

I have heard them described as "marshmallow-y", and that seemed to fit pretty well. Find someone with really prominant hand veins and practice finding them with your eyes closed. I happen to have those big ole hand veins myself so I was my own guinea pig!

truern · Feb 19, 2009

First practice with veins you can SEE...put your fingers above the vein to get it to plump, then gently push up and down on it with your fingers...I tend to use my ring finger on my right hand because I can generally feel better with it. Get to know what it should feel like so you'll recognize that "bounce".

vmoh18 · Feb 19, 2009

Thanks for all the help. I used my husband as a guinea pig last night. I practiced with and without the tourniquet. I know what they feel like now. :yeah:

truern · Feb 19, 2009

Thanks for all the help. I used my husband as a guinea pig last night. I practiced with and without the tourniquet. I know what they feel like now.

Good for you!!

Remember, too, that you might not always use a tourniquet...some sticks actually go better without one.

Karla.S · Feb 19, 2009

This is one of the things I had wondered about too (I'm not yet in actual nursing school) I can definately find the ones on my hands, but I know some people don't have very prominent veins in their arms at all

Some good info in this posting! Thanks!

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Feb 19, 2009

i was an iv therapist for many years and taught a lot of people how to start ivs and "feel" for veins. the best thing you can do to learn "what good veins should feel like" is to get a tourniquet, find someone who has veins you can see (we call them garden hoses) and feel those veins. then put a tourniquet on that arm and feel those same veins again with the tourniquet on. you will feel the difference. veins under pressure (with the tourniquet on) have a firmness and bounciness to them that is unmistakable. when we were feeling for veins in someone where veins were not visible, that round firmness and bounciness that we could track with our fingers was the difference between an successful iv or no iv at all.