Who is REALLY GOOD with needles?

Garde-Malade · Apr 3, 2003

3rd semester RN student here. Mostly to say what's already been said: dart the needle (our instructors tell us that slow=pain ... the body has time to feel the pain if you hesitate or inject the needle slowly). Also ... I learned the truth of the statement, "It's not the needle that hurts, it's the medicine." We practiced IM injections on each other, with normal saline. I honestly did not feel the shot. IVs: we were each other's guinea pigs. I felt like a pin cushion at the end of our lab day (we were required to performed 5 successful sticks). But .. I figured, what the heck, my partners need practice, and I'd only be sore a little while! Good luck with your injection labs -- they can be scary (mostly because of the "what we don't know, we fear" theory). I was one who worried that I wouldn't be able to give patients injections .. but my lab partner has turned into a great friend of mine, and I figure that if I can stick her without making myself upset, that I should have no problem in sticking a stranger! .. I, of course, was correct !

Garde-Malade · Apr 3, 2003

Hmm ... looking at my above post, I see that I need practice in posting with HTML ! Ah, well ...

RNKerry · Apr 3, 2003

hey you cant be any worse than the student that asked me where the orange was. She thought patients actually ate the orange after you injected it!

frannybee · Apr 3, 2003

Garde-Malade, it's mongrel HTML on here - use the square brackets instead of arrows and it might work a bit better. :)

StonecoastMaine · Apr 3, 2003

Rule of thumb....remember patients are not "dart boards" even though some of us wish some of them were!

Seriously inject in the manner that you would like to recieve and you won't go wrong.

Sandbox Nurse · Apr 14, 2003

try chicken breast or chicken thigh with the skin on

But don't sweat it -someone will be with u all the way thru it the first few times

nursebucky · May 12, 2003

Your best experience will be on larger patients who have deeper veins. Do not shy away from them. With the elderly, use a small needle as their skin is thin and could never compare to an orange.

I am a Phlebo working my way through nursing school. I also do IVs and ABGs. To be honest, I hate sticking babies but someone has to do it.

I wish I could see you, I would show you this swooping motion we do with our wrist to ensure that the needle is in correctly.

Latch on to someone who has at least 10 yrs experience and you will learn all that and more.

Dayray, RN · May 12, 2003

with Im's and sub Q its all about technique .. quick dart like motion and good aim + if your giveing an IM in the verteral gludial (sp) site there is a presure pint on the ishial tuberosity ..hold an alchohol pad on it with a littel presure for 30 sec before inj, helps some people others dont nocice a differance.

As fas IV's its all about practice but until then your attitude will help your patient tremendusly. If you acy confident and take your time it will make it easuer for them. Some patients resopnd well to humor so here are a few of my favorite iv stating jokes.

"IV's used to scary me, but now I just close my eyes and it doesnt bother me" patient will close their eyes you say "no not you I meant me see it helps allot" close your eyes.

tell them "dont worry Im an expert" hold the cath in your hand and shake.

ask " have you ever had an IV before" patient says yes, you say "good Im glad one of us has done this before"

useualy their eyes get really wide and then they luagh when they relize you are jokeing, with the tentoin broken you tell them that you are going to do your best and that even though it hurts it will be over quickly and let them know their comfort is a priority to you. I always appoligize when I can tell it really hurt them and that seems to help a littel too.

healingtouchRN · May 13, 2003

I learned the most about sticking from a nurse about 45 years old that was a house supervisor in a rural hospital, so she started allllllll the IV"s! She put her hands on mind let me feel the pop & showed me how to coax up a vein not from slapping the arm but stroking the vein with one finger. I don't use a touniquet usually I just let the gravity do the work! I 'll be forever abliged to my friend Sandra who taught me so much when I was younger!

ScarlettRN · May 13, 2003

I was wondering if anyone else would bring up the NO tourniquet, torniquet, turnket, ummm, rubber thing idea. I have found that when a patient has veins that blow easily, I just go in without one if I see one. I also learned that you have to make sure the angle is right and the threading is right. When I got out of school, I could hit a vein, but would go thru it or mess up the threading.

One of the keys to needles is to at least act like you are confident in front of the patient, so that their stress level is lowered. When I walk into a room after a patient has been stuck a few times, I have found that telling him that *I* am the one they call when they can't get an IV tends to make them feel like it will be a successful start. Mind over matter!

luvbug · May 13, 2003

About the injection techniques, it is very important that you try not to stress out about it. I know, it is hard not to. The only way to develop a technique, though, is to practice. Every nurse will develop his/her own technique with time, and this is also an important step in getting more comfortable giving injections. You will probably give a few of them with an instructor present while you are still in school. When you start a job, a nurse there should be willing to let you watch her technique, and/or try your own technique with her supervision. In time, you will probably look back and wonder why you ever worried :)

Dont worry, it will all work out. Some stress is normal, it helps us learn

healingtouchRN · May 13, 2003

I like to watch the CRNA's too, they come up with different idea on hard to stick turnips. I saw one gal reverse wrap a large tourney (something they had in the OR) around an arm top to bottom then release it then a vein popped up. It was a worse case scenerio on some one we couldn't find a family member to sign a consent for a central line. it worked, the CRNA got a 22 g in for the person & we got blood from that turnip!!! much kudos to the CRNA's for all the hard work they do!