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AIBU?

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Original poster

Venepuncture and a nurse at work

40 replies

Shiningstarr · 29/11/2024 18:32

Hi, just wondered if I am being unreasonable or not. Any nurses or healthcare professionals that can advise me would be great.

A nurse I work with seems to have an unusual way of taking bloods. She is regularly unsuccessful, and I observed her on a few occasions recently doing this...

  1. glancing at the patient's arm, doesn't palpate the area to feel for a suitable vein.

  2. attaches tourniquet and cleans area

  3. always chooses GREEN butterfly (thicker one), and inserts... no flashback. Even though there is no flashback, attaches the vaccutainer... no success.

  4. starts fishing around for a vein, digging the green butterfly in further and in different directions. Patient squirming in pain.

Surely this is not best practice? I do this..

  1. put the tourniquet on, palpate the area and find a suitable vein.. should feel bouncy. If no vein is found, remove the tourniquet until one is found.

  2. clean area

  3. insert needle, if there is flashback, attach vaccutainer, remove tourniquet etc etc.

A lot of our patients are teenagers and they are fainting when she is fishing around with the huge needle. What should I do?

OP posts:
dominoe · 29/11/2024 19:01

Also have to have a cannula in my wrist, why would that usually be ?

dominoe · 29/11/2024 19:00

Not medical but really interested what a flashback is ?? My veins are a nightmare apparently and I've been butchered many a time so I find this fascinating!

Greybeardy · 29/11/2024 18:55

Green needle's fine - blood's less likely to haemolyse. Attaching the vacutainer's fine. Feeling/not feeling ...depends on the veins. DOI: anaesthetist (old enough to do all sorts of things that younger folk might think are a bit out of the ordinary when taking bloods/cannulating).

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 29/11/2024 18:54

I have a needle phobia and if a nurse did that to me my veins would have disappeared and once I'd calmed down I'd be making a complaint - I can't believe no one has already.

Is she really that stupid that she can't see she's hurting people?

dickdarstardlymuttley · 29/11/2024 18:53

Wherethewildthingsfart · 29/11/2024 18:51

The only thing more bonkers than her technique is you sharing it here instead of with your line manager.
Have you asked the colleague about it? Or do you just watch?

💯

dickdarstardlymuttley · 29/11/2024 18:52

Brandnewskytohangyourstarsupon · 29/11/2024 18:36

You take it to your line manager, not social media.

This.

olympicsrock · 29/11/2024 18:52

Sensible to feel the vein first unless it is visibly raised.
If no palpable vein , tap or ask patient to repeat it make fist to bring up a vein.

I have no problem with using a green butterfly . This is totally standard . Smaller calibre needles take longer and may cause the blood to haemolyse . There are some ‘safety needles’ where you don’t get a flashback. If your practice uses standard ones though you would expect a flashback and need to reposition the needle.

Wherethewildthingsfart · 29/11/2024 18:51

The only thing more bonkers than her technique is you sharing it here instead of with your line manager.
Have you asked the colleague about it? Or do you just watch?

Garlicpest · 29/11/2024 18:51

Has she always been this bad, do you know? Maybe her eyesight's failing. Or even experiencing cognitive decline.

I've only suffered one nurse stabbing away with no result - she was telling me all about her big night out just gone, so I sent her away to get a cup of tea and some paracetamol for her hangover before she turned my arm into a colander.

Original poster
Shiningstarr · 29/11/2024 18:44

Frazzledmama23 · 29/11/2024 18:42

I am also a nurse and her way obviously sounds incorrect! Has she actually been signed off to take bloods? I had to be observed 5 times taking them before classed as competent. I'm not great at it (I work with elderly patients with average age 80-100) but i have maybe one or two goes and if not successful I ask someone else to help... Sounds like she needs more training!

Yes she's been signed off. She's actually only got a few years left until she retires, she's been a nurse a long time. Maybe she needs to re-train?

It's not so much not being successful that's concerning, it's the technique.. eg.. why attach the vaccutainer when there is no flashback? If no flashback then you've not got the needle in the vein

OP posts:
Frazzledmama23 · 29/11/2024 18:42

I am also a nurse and her way obviously sounds incorrect! Has she actually been signed off to take bloods? I had to be observed 5 times taking them before classed as competent. I'm not great at it (I work with elderly patients with average age 80-100) but i have maybe one or two goes and if not successful I ask someone else to help... Sounds like she needs more training!

fivebyfivebuffy · 29/11/2024 18:40

I have crap veins and if she started wiggling around for a vein I would be asking politely for someone else
To be fair they usually look at my veins and go off to find "the vampire, she always gets blood"

Original poster
Shiningstarr · 29/11/2024 18:40

Brandnewskytohangyourstarsupon · 29/11/2024 18:36

You take it to your line manager, not social media.

Thanks, just want a few opinions first, so that's why I am asking on here.

OP posts:
Brandnewskytohangyourstarsupon · 29/11/2024 18:36

You take it to your line manager, not social media.

TheRoomWhereItHappened · 29/11/2024 18:34

If it’s causing patients harm (eg fainting when they probably wouldn’t from normal bloods being taken) you HAVE to report it.