Blame it on the vein

One of the goals I set out for myself during my four weeks in Qatar was to start an IV and/or to take blood from a vein, a real vein. In the days before I left, I watched and re-watched all those "how to" videos on YouTube that can often be a nursing student's saving grace when trying to learn a new procedure (after reading the text books and completing our IV lab, of course). In the first few days in ER at the Heart Hospital my colleagues, Tanis and Natalia, both got to start IVs and have done it several times since. This is one thing I have to do before I leave, I thought. After a week on the CCU in Heart Hospital, yesterday I thought "today's the day." I'm ready. I can do this. Let's go.
Assigned to the same patient as the previous day, my preceptor, Souyma, and I wouldn't need to insert an IV as the patient had had one inserted in the ER before coming up to see us. About half way through the shift, however, she walks up to me with some supplies in hand, including a vacutainer, a wee little device used to draw blood from a person's vein. Oh. I hadn't realized the patient needed to have some blood withdrawn.

Would this be my chance to insert a needle into a vein? A real vein? My heart started pumping a little faster.  Deep breath, Lauren. Deep breath. My nurse turned to me and said "You will do this, yes?" And I replied:  "Yes, as long as you help me, Soumya?" (Don't leave my side, I secretly prayed). She nodded (I should mention that Soumya is an amazing preceptor).

Souyma prepped the patient and located an appropriate vein on the man's hand. She explained the procedure to him, then looked at me with a little smile. Ok, I thought. Here we go. I put on some gloves and wiped his hand with an alcohol swab. I opened the vacutainer and leaned over my patient, looking carefully at his hand and at the target vein. Then I went for it. Slowly, at first, probably too slowly. The patient starting speaking quickly in Hindi, I'm pretty sure it was an expression of pain (discernible in any language). Souyma was right by my side, instructing me to insert it a little further and then attach a small tube collecting a blood sample. If this was an IV insertion, I would have immediately been able to see flashback (blood) and known that I had hit the vein. But with a vacutainer, it's not immediately apparent that I was in the vein. I attached the tube and immediately it began to fill with blood. I was in the vein! It all happened so quickly, I didn't even have time to be nervous. We finished up and put some gauze on the patient's hand. He was doing well. My hands, which I anticipated would be a little on the shaky side, were steady throughout. No matter how many times you draw blood from a patient during your practice as a nurse, you never forget your first time!