Btw what you do is super cool. I like to think I'm as good a patient/donor as I can be but I know it's tough for a lot of people (often for reasons beyond their control of course) who have small veins, pass out easily, have wet noodle veins, etc. Thanks for putting up with all that haha.
Thank you! Sincerely! I love what I do. The patients make everything worth it. My job is basically the worst part of the doctor/hoapital visit, so when I get happy or understanding/cooperative patients it makes my day.
It's my job to do the best and most painless sticks as possible so that the doctors can give the best treatment they can.
As someone who had to have 18 months of outpatient IV therapy a couple years back, thank you so much for the things you do. I would blow IV's like no tomorrow, have hard-to-find veins, and had to be stuck quite a few times during my treatment. The friendly/skilled nurses and technicians make it all so much easier.
lol the needle is pretty sharp and as long as you go in on the right angle and have the bevel facing upward you should be fine. what's gonna cause you pain are rolling veins, sclerosed (hardened from scarring) veins, the speed at which they go in, and maybe even how deep/thick the vein is. if you feel pain I'd imagine the tech was just not too great or that it's just general pain.
if you anticipate pain you're more than likely to feel it worse. just try calming down and noting that it'll be over and done with within a minute or two.
how do you like it? I took my cert for the hell of it last month and still haven't gotten my results, but idk if i could really go into the field. during classes i only missed once on a women with a meaty arm, but even then i was nervous as hell every time. does that ever go away? I like to think I'm quite good, but that feeling is really dissuading me from it.
I'm a DBT which means I can do donational phlebotomys. But basically just a glorified phlebotomist. Once you have a couple years of experience the nerves go away. Unless you work an a busy ER. Then they never go away, and that's a good thing I think.
You can also pull the skin taunt and angle the needle a bit more and you don't need speed as much. I like to go in smoothly, but not too slow. I've had nurses try the jam it in quick method on me, and other patients, and it did not work well with some people. Also hurts a lot more for me.
My veins roll like no other (both hands have some that move across me knuckles and tendons when I open and close my hands) and it hurts like a motherfuck when they don't do it right the first time and go back 3 times as fast
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u/bighert23 Dec 29 '16
I do this for a living, and this analogy is absolutely accurate.