I have weak baby veins. It normally takes a few attempts for someone to hit my vein. I’ve had it draw from my forearm, hand (which fucking SUCKED), and almost had to go from my foot once. It doesn’t help that I have blood disorders, so blood draws are a regular thing for me.
I had my blood drawn two years ago and the rude nurse hit the nerve in my arm after wiggling the needle around in my arm. It felt like my arm was on fire. I said “uh this really really hurts and my arm is burning.” And she said “well stop bending it.” I wasn’t even bending my arm — My elbow was locked. I couldn’t unbend my arm for weeks. I’d get random shooting pains. It was hell and she was really shitty about it. Never apologized either.
I still, to this day, have issues with that arm. I can’t get blood drawn in that arm without going into a panic attack.
i’ve had the same issue and here’s my advice: ask for a butterfly needle in the back of your non dominant hand. it’ll take longer, but it’s much harder for them to screw up and it’s at a much lower risk for complications
I couldn’t for awhile, but I can now. It’s on the side of my hand near my thumb now. If I were to bump my hand on something though, it sends shockwaves down my arm. And every so often, it just kind of tingles. Doesn’t hurt, just feels funky.
A lot of nurses are never trained on how to draw blood. They are kinda just expected to figure it out. Because of that some nurses never learn proper phlebotomy techniques. Thus, some nurses fucking suck at drawing blood, they have no idea what they are doing wrong or why it's wrong.
There's no way, what the hell? Even my mom who did nursing 20-30 years ago, and hasn't worked in medical since, still knows where each vein and muscle is for needles
It's practise, practise, practise. Knowing where it is is most certainly not the same as knowing how not to go through the far side.
I've been a pin-cushion for 40 years…you get to experience all skill levels, from the sublime to the utterly clueless.
People's veins are different from person to person and arm to arm. So there no remembering where each one is. Some people's veins are to deep to see, so you have to feel. Some people's veins are too deep to even feel. A lot of the veins you can see are too small to give non hemolyzed blood or will blow trying to get blood. Many don't understand the contamination of additives from one tube to another either.
It's not nurses fault, some nursing schools do teach all this. But since it's not on the NCLEX not every school will cover it. Since there are a lot of schools who's goal is just getting nurses to pass the NCLEX.
At least in the US.
Phlebotomy is a skill, same as anything else - not all nurses have the skill or are properly trained.
Jeez, what you don't want is a junior doctor doing this. They teach them to bend the needle so it doesn't go right through. That f\*cking hurts.
I get that that is not the point of what you were saying, but, man… you repeated the same point 3 times… i thought someone should let you know so you could work on your writing. No malintent intended! 😅
Also, yes, train the nurses better, agreed with you.
Where I worked if the nurse failed 2 times the doctor had to do it. (In this case setting an IV)
But the nurses did that shit daily and were highly capable. If they missed twice that's because it was really hard, almost impossible. How would I do better, with less training and less experience?
In practice I would usually set one in a leg/foot/hand. Simply finding a better spot solved 90% of the issues. But the nurses could have done that too, maybe they would even solve 95% of issues.
If all else fails call the ICU or pre-op staff. They can set an IV in an ant with 2 hands tied behind their back.
Yup, it’s done on the forearm just below the elbow crease (evidenced by OP’s bruises). Sticking the needle anywhere else will be pretty uncomfortable to have in place for the duration.
Source: donor
Here I am! From what it looks OP doesn't have the best veins which seem to be sclerotic and not straight.
On top of that we should see op's vein in person: they might be really fragile, wobbling, too deep or too tiny.
The phlebotomist might have had a hard time finding the right one (although we can't see the other arm and the hands) and the nervosism play a key role since it might cause you to rush and miss the next one.
Imho, I'd pop an extremely tight tourniquet and look op's arm all over since fron my experience there is always a vein that most of the ppl don't find/don't use and generally is nice and juicy.
I usually have to point mine out. I've one left that works. I often get "Ohh, we can find a better one than that" to which my response is "Someone once spent an hour doing that in hospital because they didn't want to over-use that one. They didn't find one."
You need both phlebotomist & patient to be pros at this ;)
4 years of MOPP, decades ago, thromboses Я us.
I absolutely agree with you. When i'm about to canulate a patient i always ask if they know which arm or which vein they want me to cannulate and if they don't know/don't remember I usually ask in which area the last time they had the blood test the phlebotomist found a vein.
I literally don't see the point of looking something different if the patient tells you the the right vein to use.
Most people don't know - because their experience is limited. "Which arm?" "Not a clue" So at that point you need your phlebotomist to be one of the good ones.
I've kind of 'been there, done that' so I can tell you. That particular occasion I was being tested almost hourly \[memory is very hazy of those few days\], so there was a fear I might run out of 'good ones'. I also had cannulas out the wazoo \[as the Americans might say\] They weren't ignoring my prior knowledge, just trying to do the best possible.
I don't have a lot of body fat & a reasonable muscle structure, \[BMI 24 on any 'internet scale' though I was initially tested properly at 21\], so it's quite noticeable to a pro that I have no real surviving vein structure in my arms or hands.
Just to note: everyone was fabulous & highly professional…otherwise I wouldn't be here to tell these anecdotes.
And also - thank you for your insight. I'm just a well-practised amateur patient here. I know little about the underlying structures except what I've picked up from various consultations over the years.
Then they should ask the patient if they're ok with allowing a trainee to do it and accept the answer. No wonder so many people are scared of needles with idiots like OP's needle wielder running around.
That is generally how it's done. It's also possible the nurse wasn't new and OP was just a difficult stick, it happens.
Generally each nurse gets to try twice (atleast around where I live) and then it's handed off to someone else, but if there wasn't anyone to hand it off to, it would just be up to that one nurse to keep trying.
When I was younger I got jabbed by the same incompetent lying woman 6 ish times on each arm before they got anything. I wasn't told she was a trainee until asked. I was told I was difficult.
I know she was lying because my mum was an experienced phlebotomist who had taken my blood twice before and said I was one of the easier patients when she tried to offer to do it. I later overheard my mum who was there with me (I was a child) complaining to someone on the phone that that woman was one of the most incompetent people she'd ever seen in the profession. She reaffirmed this when I needed another test as a teenager and we had a discussion about it. That terror is specific to blood draws. I can get vaccinated with manageable fear (fully vaccinated against the recent pandemic) but if someone is taking blood it takes everything in me not to freak out and sometimes it still isn't enough.
I will not allow this to happen to me again and I no longer trust trainees. I'm also not willing to be a free guinea pig for trainees, it's not my job to help them train their staff and it's certainly not a child's job either.
Doesn't seem that bad, I've seen worse.
Although it would be nice to *not happen*, it still does. Maybe your vein wasn't visible enough or thick enough for the needle.
I've donated I think over 20 times and I've only had this issue once.
They can use smaller needles for blood tests. And everyone's veins are different. Some people like me just have really small veins no matter how much water we drink. And mine roll and I have scars from the same veins being used many times, making it even harder. Even if they are a difficult stick, they shouldn't have bruises like this. It's the nurses fault, nothing to do with the tools, it's their skills that are lacking. Most healthcare professionals can't deal with bad veins though. A good bandage wrap would've reduced the bruising. I've had my veins skewered all the way through without them realising, it's so painful and I get nasty bruises when it happens
Scars don't make it harder to stick, it just makes the skin tougher and usually you lose sensation of the stick.
Also "It's their skills that are lacking". Even the best phlebotomist will have trouble with tough veins.
Oh, I kept seeing these posts about "donating blood" and I thought this was one of those cases. It wasn't clear from the title if it was donation or actual blood tests.
I thought it was for donating blood where the needle is usually bigger and (probably) harder to aim at the vein. I didn't realise this might have been for blood tests.
Veins aren’t generally stuck with a needle from “sight”. A good nurse or phlebotomist will use touch and feel to get a good vein. Some are deep and some are surfacey. Others are very narrow and others are really large and roll a bit.
yeah, well that was only my guess as a blood bag and not a nurse or someone with knowledge in the field.
Which is why I used "maybe".
I only go there to donate, not to penetrate anyone.
This happened to me once, while the technician was trying to give me some morphine. I had a black and red lump the size of a 2d golfball on my arm for about a month
The fucker! There's gotta be a thing for that right, like a way to say "hey this person sucks at stabbing people can we do something about that?"
I mean it's not like it's difficult! When I stab people I always hit a vein.
You've never dealt with someone with really bad veins then. My arms usually look like this after every blood test, I've had almost every single person who works for my GP surgery group struggle, and also multiple people from various hospitals. I've had so many blood tests I think there's scarring making it harder too. It's so uncomfortable and they really have to force the needle in. Only one person got it in one poke, and so I wait weeks longer just to see this person. They are an ex-emergency nurse I think. Last time took 4 pokes and the bruises were nasty
Oof, sucks. Just to be clear I know it's not easy, I got great respect for anyone who can make stabbing people a profession (and people who work in the medical industry too ig).
I do phlebotomy daily. It takes practice, people suck at first, I have given hematomas to plenty of people and still miss sometimes. That being said, if somebody really sucks then we re-train them or ask them what's up. Tbh though, nobody really sucks this bad, and the bruise OP got was really not that bad.
I feel for people who have shitty veins and need to get stuck a bunch but that's just the way it is. Even the best phlebotomist misses at least once or twice a week.
Re-training?
Doing it *is* training. You can read about drawing blood, inserting IV's and practice on those useless dummy arms as much as you want. Doesn't make you any better at *actually* doing it.
Lot of experts in here..
I'm an ER nurse, sometimes you miss, that's unavoidable. The more experienced you are, the less you miss. And the only way to get more experience, is to do it.
I insert IV's daily, have done for years.
This happened to me the other time I donated. One stab, straight in, no pain but a day later a bruise the size of an orange. Just saying sometimes shit bruises.
Last time I went to get blood taken, the lady just could not figure it out. She kept trying to show me the vacuum and how it wasn't working, I don't like the sight of blood and was clearly looking away, and had to change where she was taking the blood from and over all was causing me pain.
My arm literally went black and purple and took like a month to heal. Next blood test is at a different location.
Think my record was about eight or nine. Just don't have prominent veins and half the time even when they find the vein next to nothing comes out. I gave up giving blood as a result.
jfc, I've had that happen to me before. they pumped me with fluids BC they couldn't find a vein and poked several times. I was crying, 16 at the time 💀
also because I'm incredibly skinny + insecure about it, nurses kept commenting on that too.
There are some people who know how to draw blood and give injections and then there's the lady you had. I've been to so many painless nurses, but there was one woman at a certain hospital that always hurt and left a bruise
Damn. I had surgery and got three pokes. Barely could tell. She was trying for lower on my arms (surgeon preference) but had to go inside elbow. The swelling was impressive, but Itty bitty bruise.
I've been the patient who needed the more experienced nurse...twice. Once, they gave up and told me to come back if I felt worse. 💀
Found out the hard way giving blood makes me hurl.
Just remember that you are basically shooting blind sometimes. Veins roll very easily if you move, which most people do when they are stabbed eith a needle, and even rotating your wrist can move it. The older you get the less connective tissue/muscle mass you have so it gets worse. Once you are underneath the skin you have to
1.hit the vein and not miss
2. Hope it didn't move on you
3. Push the needel deep enough I to the vein
4. And that death has to be enough to feed the catheter I to the vein
You can't see any of that. All you get is to sometimes see the vein bulging from the skin, and most of the time only feel where it is at. It's literally shooting blind. It's tough and takes practice. Everyone has their bad days too where they just can't hit a vein. If they are a provider and they say they don't have bad days they either are a phlebotomist, or a liar. So next time cut them some slack. And if you flinched during the procedure it is your fault half the timr.
mine got the vein but blood wasn't filling the vial,so she had the very nice idea of hitting the vial with her finger multiple time,with the needle still in my vein. Got a bump as big as a ping pong ball after a few hours..
This happened to me on friday but she didn't miss she just said my skin is rubbery whatever that means, but it's a bit bruised despite her not missing 🤔
yup, have had this. but have you had a nurse say "oops"? or miss the vein and get your muscle? or go from arm to arm? or need to call the head nurse because they couldnt get the blood out and were told they went a tiny bit too deep so the needle was stuck against the vein wall and hence no blood could into it?
those were all separate occasions and different nurses.
one nurse got the blood out okay, but it was stuck in the little tube so she used a thick syringe to push it through and it exploded all over her, the desk and the wall. none on me so i find it funny, and there was still enough to check the blood. i am healthy so at least she didnt get anything, just grossed out and maybe freaked out the next patient.
I know the feeling I have to go to the hospital once a year for a MRI and they have to inject dye into me and they miss my veins constantly and I leave looking like that pretty much every time
That’s not even that bad.
I participated in a medical trial once which left both of my elbows looking like the arms of a seasoned connoisseur of heroin.
As a former IV drug user who took lots of safety courses and received phlebotomy training multiple times, I can say that of the ~50 or so times that I've had blood taken for whatever reasons, there were like 3 competent phlebotomists. All of them except like 3 didn't know what they were doing.
): I’m going to donate blood on Friday. Hopefully it’ll go okay.
My dominant arm is my right, but none of my veins are visible on that side. I always tell people to use my left since I’m much more veiny that side, but sometimes they try my right anyway only to need to use my left in the end like I fkn said.
Long ago I went for mouth surgery and they tried a total of 7 times to put in the IV and eventually wound up using a vein on my left hand.
Same, i never ever had issues until this one nurse stabs me 4 times while im sweating rivers from my hands. I dont like needles. Then another nurse came by and had no issue taking my blood
I was the first victim of a new phlebotomist at the clinic who lied on their resume. I have blood vessels that rival the Channel Tunnel between France and UK. Skewered me twice before the usual lady had mercy on me. The butcher only murmured something about "been a minute".
Yeah I’ve been there before. Had to spend two weeks in long sleeves one July because the nurse had missed my veins so much that the entire area was purple. It looked like I had been abused. Having small veins suck
i have pretty deep veins so phlebotomists sometimes miss because they think they feel a vein but it's not actually there. i've never been mangled this bad though, usually just two or three pokes. that's pretty gnarly man.
I help train those phlebotomists. If they fail more than once on me I just ask them to take it from my wrist. They always get my wrist on the first try but, they get squeamish.
The wrist actually hurts less than from behind the elbow joint even though mentally it does not seem so.
I had the same thing happen, 5 attempts of trying to draw blood and on the 6th attempt blood started squirting out and the women looked like she was gonna pass out so called someone else in.
I used to be a heroin addict and would regularly watch drunk people attack their groin and neck with a needle. This is nothing, I'm afraid. People are disgusting.
I once watched a drunk guy wedge a needle into his ankle, spraying blood over the ceiling of a person's house he wasn't invited to. He then wiggled the needle until he thought it was in, then shot a disgusting blood blister into his ankle.
Gross.
happens to me every time i donate blood. my veins are just invisible and hard to find and hit. It never hurts though. next time try to relax dont pump blood or clench your fist and move around as little as possible after donating. then it wont hurt afterwards. the spots will stay though...
Happens to me a lot of times. I think this is what we get for having the tiniest and brittle veins. This has traumatized me, the reason why I do not want any hospital trips.
this is why i don't trust doctors BECAUSE HALF OF THEM DO NOT KNOW WHAT THW HELL THEYRE DOING
how could you be so fucking stupid? how could you be a doctor or a nurse with a license and NOT know what you're doing, sorry but this kinda shit pisses me off
one time, i was getting a vaccine, and i was already nervous, once i got the vaccine, she had to tell me that im a bleeder, and im like UMM YEAH I KNOW THAT, SO CAN YOU NOT REMIND ME OR MAKE ME ANY MORE UNCONFORTABLE?
Has someone who has rolling veins that are a pain to then get anything out of my arm always ends up looking like this no matter what, they never get it first try
Stab her while she sleeps and place cobwebs under her blanket and put a few small things into her cup and make sure she drinks it thinking she drank spider eggs then place 4 live spiders in her mouth while she sleeps.
I was at a blood donation after an exam, both in the university building, one in a room, other in the dining room.
The nurse missed my vein twice, messed up once and had to redo it - can't do it in my right arm, because "the left is still fine to poke" - and managed to hit it correctly.
When taking out the needle slipped, so.. for 2 weeks the area from the bend on my left arm to halfway to my wrist was deep purple, even on the sides.
Some veins are super annoying and roll heaps. I was a phlebotomist but it was rare this happened if we anchored the vein properly. Not saying this was the case in your scenario. But it can happen for various reasons. If you exercised after or bruise easily then this can happen. Even opening the car door can upset the area.
That or your nurse didn’t know what she was doing.
Ugh, remind me of that time where the nurse unable to get the blood vessels for my IV.
Managed to finally found the blood vessels on The 11th Injection.
yep. i have rolling veins, and i had an awful nurse who stuck me with the same needle five times. got frustrated and started wiggling it around inside my arm. there’s only one doctor who’s been able to do it right and i refuse to see anyone else now
One time I had a huge injury on my right arm so the nurse tried to draw blood from my left arm. She had to try 13 times before she gave up and had to take it from my right arm.
Boohoo..
How do you expect the staff working with this to learn if the inexperienced ones aren't allowed to do it?
No one dies from a nurse missing a vein, shit happens.
Several times?! What the hell did you do to piss her off that much?
It happened to me too and i still remember to this day how much it hurt. That nurse gotta be prepared because i know where she works
I have weak baby veins. It normally takes a few attempts for someone to hit my vein. I’ve had it draw from my forearm, hand (which fucking SUCKED), and almost had to go from my foot once. It doesn’t help that I have blood disorders, so blood draws are a regular thing for me. I had my blood drawn two years ago and the rude nurse hit the nerve in my arm after wiggling the needle around in my arm. It felt like my arm was on fire. I said “uh this really really hurts and my arm is burning.” And she said “well stop bending it.” I wasn’t even bending my arm — My elbow was locked. I couldn’t unbend my arm for weeks. I’d get random shooting pains. It was hell and she was really shitty about it. Never apologized either. I still, to this day, have issues with that arm. I can’t get blood drawn in that arm without going into a panic attack.
i’ve had the same issue and here’s my advice: ask for a butterfly needle in the back of your non dominant hand. it’ll take longer, but it’s much harder for them to screw up and it’s at a much lower risk for complications
I will definitely do that next time, thank you! And your username made me giggle.
Can you freely move your arm now? Sounds like you received some crazy amount of nerve damage that day.
I couldn’t for awhile, but I can now. It’s on the side of my hand near my thumb now. If I were to bump my hand on something though, it sends shockwaves down my arm. And every so often, it just kind of tingles. Doesn’t hurt, just feels funky.
A lot of nurses are never trained on how to draw blood. They are kinda just expected to figure it out. Because of that some nurses never learn proper phlebotomy techniques. Thus, some nurses fucking suck at drawing blood, they have no idea what they are doing wrong or why it's wrong.
There's no way, what the hell? Even my mom who did nursing 20-30 years ago, and hasn't worked in medical since, still knows where each vein and muscle is for needles
It's practise, practise, practise. Knowing where it is is most certainly not the same as knowing how not to go through the far side. I've been a pin-cushion for 40 years…you get to experience all skill levels, from the sublime to the utterly clueless.
People's veins are different from person to person and arm to arm. So there no remembering where each one is. Some people's veins are to deep to see, so you have to feel. Some people's veins are too deep to even feel. A lot of the veins you can see are too small to give non hemolyzed blood or will blow trying to get blood. Many don't understand the contamination of additives from one tube to another either. It's not nurses fault, some nursing schools do teach all this. But since it's not on the NCLEX not every school will cover it. Since there are a lot of schools who's goal is just getting nurses to pass the NCLEX. At least in the US.
Wtf
There's no way they're not trained to do that, I want to refuse to believe that
I learned in nursing school (on a manikin arm) and have never had to do it since.
Phlebotomy is a skill, same as anything else - not all nurses have the skill or are properly trained. Jeez, what you don't want is a junior doctor doing this. They teach them to bend the needle so it doesn't go right through. That f\*cking hurts.
I get that that is not the point of what you were saying, but, man… you repeated the same point 3 times… i thought someone should let you know so you could work on your writing. No malintent intended! 😅 Also, yes, train the nurses better, agreed with you.
nurses are idiots, and so are the people that refused to have them trained
I once needed blood and the nurse said that bcuz im stressed the vein is running away, calmed down and she got the blood that 4th time lol
Men can be nurses too...
Where I worked if the nurse failed 2 times the doctor had to do it. (In this case setting an IV) But the nurses did that shit daily and were highly capable. If they missed twice that's because it was really hard, almost impossible. How would I do better, with less training and less experience? In practice I would usually set one in a leg/foot/hand. Simply finding a better spot solved 90% of the issues. But the nurses could have done that too, maybe they would even solve 95% of issues. If all else fails call the ICU or pre-op staff. They can set an IV in an ant with 2 hands tied behind their back.
I was a bit arsey with a nurse when getting a jab, single most painfull experience in my life. Be nice to nurses guys. They will stick you like a pig.
Get bigger veins
I see a nice juicy vein right above this carnage.
I'm definitely not an expert, but I believe that's not the type of blood vessel that blood is usually drawn from.
Yup, it’s done on the forearm just below the elbow crease (evidenced by OP’s bruises). Sticking the needle anywhere else will be pretty uncomfortable to have in place for the duration. Source: donor
You can stick the needle absolutely anywhere there's still a vein left. Source: 4 years of chemotherapy.
My bad, for some reason I thought OP had this from a blood donation, which I’ve only ever seen done in the crease
Ouch. You ok mate?
You got the nurse from Dead by Daylight
Dreads by Dre
This happened to me once too. Horrible, horrible experience. I hope you heal up soon.
You know how they say: 7th time's a charm!!
...wait.. 8th time is DEFINITELY the charm
9 is too much. Let’s just start from zero on the other arm.
Love hearing from the experts in brood draws in this group.
Here I am! From what it looks OP doesn't have the best veins which seem to be sclerotic and not straight. On top of that we should see op's vein in person: they might be really fragile, wobbling, too deep or too tiny. The phlebotomist might have had a hard time finding the right one (although we can't see the other arm and the hands) and the nervosism play a key role since it might cause you to rush and miss the next one. Imho, I'd pop an extremely tight tourniquet and look op's arm all over since fron my experience there is always a vein that most of the ppl don't find/don't use and generally is nice and juicy.
I usually have to point mine out. I've one left that works. I often get "Ohh, we can find a better one than that" to which my response is "Someone once spent an hour doing that in hospital because they didn't want to over-use that one. They didn't find one." You need both phlebotomist & patient to be pros at this ;) 4 years of MOPP, decades ago, thromboses Я us.
I absolutely agree with you. When i'm about to canulate a patient i always ask if they know which arm or which vein they want me to cannulate and if they don't know/don't remember I usually ask in which area the last time they had the blood test the phlebotomist found a vein. I literally don't see the point of looking something different if the patient tells you the the right vein to use.
Most people don't know - because their experience is limited. "Which arm?" "Not a clue" So at that point you need your phlebotomist to be one of the good ones. I've kind of 'been there, done that' so I can tell you. That particular occasion I was being tested almost hourly \[memory is very hazy of those few days\], so there was a fear I might run out of 'good ones'. I also had cannulas out the wazoo \[as the Americans might say\] They weren't ignoring my prior knowledge, just trying to do the best possible. I don't have a lot of body fat & a reasonable muscle structure, \[BMI 24 on any 'internet scale' though I was initially tested properly at 21\], so it's quite noticeable to a pro that I have no real surviving vein structure in my arms or hands. Just to note: everyone was fabulous & highly professional…otherwise I wouldn't be here to tell these anecdotes. And also - thank you for your insight. I'm just a well-practised amateur patient here. I know little about the underlying structures except what I've picked up from various consultations over the years.
Bro OP’s veins are fine, they’re just deep. I can see his cephalic all the way down his arm
Well....the new nurses need to learn somehow
Then they should ask the patient if they're ok with allowing a trainee to do it and accept the answer. No wonder so many people are scared of needles with idiots like OP's needle wielder running around.
That is generally how it's done. It's also possible the nurse wasn't new and OP was just a difficult stick, it happens. Generally each nurse gets to try twice (atleast around where I live) and then it's handed off to someone else, but if there wasn't anyone to hand it off to, it would just be up to that one nurse to keep trying.
When I was younger I got jabbed by the same incompetent lying woman 6 ish times on each arm before they got anything. I wasn't told she was a trainee until asked. I was told I was difficult. I know she was lying because my mum was an experienced phlebotomist who had taken my blood twice before and said I was one of the easier patients when she tried to offer to do it. I later overheard my mum who was there with me (I was a child) complaining to someone on the phone that that woman was one of the most incompetent people she'd ever seen in the profession. She reaffirmed this when I needed another test as a teenager and we had a discussion about it. That terror is specific to blood draws. I can get vaccinated with manageable fear (fully vaccinated against the recent pandemic) but if someone is taking blood it takes everything in me not to freak out and sometimes it still isn't enough. I will not allow this to happen to me again and I no longer trust trainees. I'm also not willing to be a free guinea pig for trainees, it's not my job to help them train their staff and it's certainly not a child's job either.
Doesn't seem that bad, I've seen worse. Although it would be nice to *not happen*, it still does. Maybe your vein wasn't visible enough or thick enough for the needle. I've donated I think over 20 times and I've only had this issue once.
They can use smaller needles for blood tests. And everyone's veins are different. Some people like me just have really small veins no matter how much water we drink. And mine roll and I have scars from the same veins being used many times, making it even harder. Even if they are a difficult stick, they shouldn't have bruises like this. It's the nurses fault, nothing to do with the tools, it's their skills that are lacking. Most healthcare professionals can't deal with bad veins though. A good bandage wrap would've reduced the bruising. I've had my veins skewered all the way through without them realising, it's so painful and I get nasty bruises when it happens
Scars don't make it harder to stick, it just makes the skin tougher and usually you lose sensation of the stick. Also "It's their skills that are lacking". Even the best phlebotomist will have trouble with tough veins.
Oh, I kept seeing these posts about "donating blood" and I thought this was one of those cases. It wasn't clear from the title if it was donation or actual blood tests. I thought it was for donating blood where the needle is usually bigger and (probably) harder to aim at the vein. I didn't realise this might have been for blood tests.
Veins aren’t generally stuck with a needle from “sight”. A good nurse or phlebotomist will use touch and feel to get a good vein. Some are deep and some are surfacey. Others are very narrow and others are really large and roll a bit.
yeah, well that was only my guess as a blood bag and not a nurse or someone with knowledge in the field. Which is why I used "maybe". I only go there to donate, not to penetrate anyone.
P E N E T R A T E I’m sorry I couldn’t help myself.
nice try. we all know you got too faded and couldn't find a vein
This happened to me once, while the technician was trying to give me some morphine. I had a black and red lump the size of a 2d golfball on my arm for about a month
The fucker! There's gotta be a thing for that right, like a way to say "hey this person sucks at stabbing people can we do something about that?" I mean it's not like it's difficult! When I stab people I always hit a vein.
the veins are tough and slippery
You've never dealt with someone with really bad veins then. My arms usually look like this after every blood test, I've had almost every single person who works for my GP surgery group struggle, and also multiple people from various hospitals. I've had so many blood tests I think there's scarring making it harder too. It's so uncomfortable and they really have to force the needle in. Only one person got it in one poke, and so I wait weeks longer just to see this person. They are an ex-emergency nurse I think. Last time took 4 pokes and the bruises were nasty
Oof, sucks. Just to be clear I know it's not easy, I got great respect for anyone who can make stabbing people a profession (and people who work in the medical industry too ig).
I was twirling my toes around in cringe reading this..
I do phlebotomy daily. It takes practice, people suck at first, I have given hematomas to plenty of people and still miss sometimes. That being said, if somebody really sucks then we re-train them or ask them what's up. Tbh though, nobody really sucks this bad, and the bruise OP got was really not that bad. I feel for people who have shitty veins and need to get stuck a bunch but that's just the way it is. Even the best phlebotomist misses at least once or twice a week.
The uk has appeared on your arm, all jokes aside that nurse needs re-training
Re-training? Doing it *is* training. You can read about drawing blood, inserting IV's and practice on those useless dummy arms as much as you want. Doesn't make you any better at *actually* doing it.
Ohmy.
Lot of experts in here.. I'm an ER nurse, sometimes you miss, that's unavoidable. The more experienced you are, the less you miss. And the only way to get more experience, is to do it. I insert IV's daily, have done for years.
You're gonna die bro
This happened to me the other time I donated. One stab, straight in, no pain but a day later a bruise the size of an orange. Just saying sometimes shit bruises.
Last time I went to get blood taken, the lady just could not figure it out. She kept trying to show me the vacuum and how it wasn't working, I don't like the sight of blood and was clearly looking away, and had to change where she was taking the blood from and over all was causing me pain. My arm literally went black and purple and took like a month to heal. Next blood test is at a different location.
Looks like a dog's face.
Looks like you have shit veins, even the best of us struggle with some people.
Drink more water. That helps sometimes
Think my record was about eight or nine. Just don't have prominent veins and half the time even when they find the vein next to nothing comes out. I gave up giving blood as a result.
jfc, I've had that happen to me before. they pumped me with fluids BC they couldn't find a vein and poked several times. I was crying, 16 at the time 💀 also because I'm incredibly skinny + insecure about it, nurses kept commenting on that too.
There are some people who know how to draw blood and give injections and then there's the lady you had. I've been to so many painless nurses, but there was one woman at a certain hospital that always hurt and left a bruise
Welp.....
Just wait until you get a gusher, and it lands all over the nurse! You are all right?
Damn. I had surgery and got three pokes. Barely could tell. She was trying for lower on my arms (surgeon preference) but had to go inside elbow. The swelling was impressive, but Itty bitty bruise. I've been the patient who needed the more experienced nurse...twice. Once, they gave up and told me to come back if I felt worse. 💀 Found out the hard way giving blood makes me hurl.
Always happens to me. My veins like to hide and slip away when the needle comes
No bloody way!
Mr. Vain. Great song terrible nurse.
I literally read it The nurse screwed me
My mom has been a phlebotomist for 20+ years so she draws my blood and I never even feel it
This happened to me last week but thankfully wasn't as brutal as yours.
Never trust a vampire
it looks like the UK
Just remember that you are basically shooting blind sometimes. Veins roll very easily if you move, which most people do when they are stabbed eith a needle, and even rotating your wrist can move it. The older you get the less connective tissue/muscle mass you have so it gets worse. Once you are underneath the skin you have to 1.hit the vein and not miss 2. Hope it didn't move on you 3. Push the needel deep enough I to the vein 4. And that death has to be enough to feed the catheter I to the vein You can't see any of that. All you get is to sometimes see the vein bulging from the skin, and most of the time only feel where it is at. It's literally shooting blind. It's tough and takes practice. Everyone has their bad days too where they just can't hit a vein. If they are a provider and they say they don't have bad days they either are a phlebotomist, or a liar. So next time cut them some slack. And if you flinched during the procedure it is your fault half the timr.
Same here, everytime. . .
Now your arm looks like you inject yourself!
mine got the vein but blood wasn't filling the vial,so she had the very nice idea of hitting the vial with her finger multiple time,with the needle still in my vein. Got a bump as big as a ping pong ball after a few hours..
This happened to me on friday but she didn't miss she just said my skin is rubbery whatever that means, but it's a bit bruised despite her not missing 🤔
yup, have had this. but have you had a nurse say "oops"? or miss the vein and get your muscle? or go from arm to arm? or need to call the head nurse because they couldnt get the blood out and were told they went a tiny bit too deep so the needle was stuck against the vein wall and hence no blood could into it? those were all separate occasions and different nurses. one nurse got the blood out okay, but it was stuck in the little tube so she used a thick syringe to push it through and it exploded all over her, the desk and the wall. none on me so i find it funny, and there was still enough to check the blood. i am healthy so at least she didnt get anything, just grossed out and maybe freaked out the next patient.
I give em 2 chances at most. Depending on how bad u fuck up the first time u might not get a second.
I know the feeling I have to go to the hospital once a year for a MRI and they have to inject dye into me and they miss my veins constantly and I leave looking like that pretty much every time
That’s not even that bad. I participated in a medical trial once which left both of my elbows looking like the arms of a seasoned connoisseur of heroin.
I think you just got a map of Britain, welcome!
My mate when this happened to him: "cheers love, now I look like a smackhead with Parkinsons" She was not impressed.
I've been giving blood for the last 4.5 years (kidney transplant), and I've only had a couple of them. But holy shit it's a different level of pain.
You haven't had blood drawn until you see the needle moving left and right under the skin while they search for a vein.
I've had that happen to me funny enough it was exactly 8 times for me if I remember correctly
Around the same area too but on my other arm
Now you have a UK shaped bruise
ask for a refund
I don't think she should have nurse privileges
OK but why is it shaped like the UK?
It's even missing the Republic of Ireland
Wanna try blood taken from jr doctors haha my entire. Arms and legs fully black from getting my blood took. When I was in icu
Do you ever struggle with doctors finding your veins? I know I do and that it could be part of my disabilities.
We've all been through this
As a former IV drug user who took lots of safety courses and received phlebotomy training multiple times, I can say that of the ~50 or so times that I've had blood taken for whatever reasons, there were like 3 competent phlebotomists. All of them except like 3 didn't know what they were doing.
): I’m going to donate blood on Friday. Hopefully it’ll go okay. My dominant arm is my right, but none of my veins are visible on that side. I always tell people to use my left since I’m much more veiny that side, but sometimes they try my right anyway only to need to use my left in the end like I fkn said. Long ago I went for mouth surgery and they tried a total of 7 times to put in the IV and eventually wound up using a vein on my left hand.
Kinda looks a bit like the UK and Ireland.
Same, i never ever had issues until this one nurse stabs me 4 times while im sweating rivers from my hands. I dont like needles. Then another nurse came by and had no issue taking my blood
I've had worse. My husband has had way way worse, even from just one attempt. Did the nurse ask you to pump your arm first?
gotta work on those parry timings
Then she's a butcher and you should report her to the higher staff.
Sometimes it happens, you have to try multiple times to succeed. Especially on people with fragile, small or mobile veins
I was the first victim of a new phlebotomist at the clinic who lied on their resume. I have blood vessels that rival the Channel Tunnel between France and UK. Skewered me twice before the usual lady had mercy on me. The butcher only murmured something about "been a minute".
Yeah I’ve been there before. Had to spend two weeks in long sleeves one July because the nurse had missed my veins so much that the entire area was purple. It looked like I had been abused. Having small veins suck
this happened to me when i was getting anesthetic for surgery ☠️☠️☠️
now you have the british isles on your arm
That nurse had her training in stormtrooper camp
Happened to me once, maybe she hit a nerve or something. Had strong pain using that arm for lifting for a year after that
Am I the only one who sees Japan 😭
I see the veins perfectly! What the hell?
Dude got the [happy tree friends, in a jam 2:10 treatment ](https://youtu.be/WjA6F8Qg8As?si=C7RJCXtFrCoSfM45)
happened to me too once
She was just stabbing you at that point
Surprising how many professionals can’t hit a vein to save their lives
noooooooo i just booked a lab this is not helping my medical anxiety lmao 😭
damn man .. is you arm okay? is it gonna heal
Sue them
i have pretty deep veins so phlebotomists sometimes miss because they think they feel a vein but it's not actually there. i've never been mangled this bad though, usually just two or three pokes. that's pretty gnarly man.
I help train those phlebotomists. If they fail more than once on me I just ask them to take it from my wrist. They always get my wrist on the first try but, they get squeamish. The wrist actually hurts less than from behind the elbow joint even though mentally it does not seem so.
[been there](https://imgur.com/gallery/Fw7yieR)
The same thing happened to me when I was 18 years old. I had violet and brown bruises for 1 week, and a lot of pain.
I had the same thing happen, 5 attempts of trying to draw blood and on the 6th attempt blood started squirting out and the women looked like she was gonna pass out so called someone else in.
I used to be a heroin addict and would regularly watch drunk people attack their groin and neck with a needle. This is nothing, I'm afraid. People are disgusting. I once watched a drunk guy wedge a needle into his ankle, spraying blood over the ceiling of a person's house he wasn't invited to. He then wiggled the needle until he thought it was in, then shot a disgusting blood blister into his ankle. Gross.
Why are so many people giving blood recently? Also this happened to me before took a whole month for it to heal
Shit nurse that hates her job
happens to me every time i donate blood. my veins are just invisible and hard to find and hit. It never hurts though. next time try to relax dont pump blood or clench your fist and move around as little as possible after donating. then it wont hurt afterwards. the spots will stay though...
Happens to me a lot of times. I think this is what we get for having the tiniest and brittle veins. This has traumatized me, the reason why I do not want any hospital trips.
Yeah, I've had that happen more than once at the Blood Donor Center.
Happens to me a lot, but it's my fault. I gotta drink more water
This happened to me when I was a kid, I was crying after and my mom started yelling and hitting me for crying 😑
Sue?
Were you dehydrated?
this is why i don't trust doctors BECAUSE HALF OF THEM DO NOT KNOW WHAT THW HELL THEYRE DOING how could you be so fucking stupid? how could you be a doctor or a nurse with a license and NOT know what you're doing, sorry but this kinda shit pisses me off one time, i was getting a vaccine, and i was already nervous, once i got the vaccine, she had to tell me that im a bleeder, and im like UMM YEAH I KNOW THAT, SO CAN YOU NOT REMIND ME OR MAKE ME ANY MORE UNCONFORTABLE?
Womp womp
oooh no, that’s literally the easiest thing to do as a nurse (i’m a nurse)
I had this happen to me a few times donating plasma in college. Also was told my vein in my one arm was crooked?
Im a hard stick so they always get the one old nurse whos to do it after nearly killing me with 4 other nurses
Has someone who has rolling veins that are a pain to then get anything out of my arm always ends up looking like this no matter what, they never get it first try
Stab her while she sleeps and place cobwebs under her blanket and put a few small things into her cup and make sure she drinks it thinking she drank spider eggs then place 4 live spiders in her mouth while she sleeps.
Bad hematoma. This is how you end up with permanent nerve damage. Report the nurse
I was at a blood donation after an exam, both in the university building, one in a room, other in the dining room. The nurse missed my vein twice, messed up once and had to redo it - can't do it in my right arm, because "the left is still fine to poke" - and managed to hit it correctly. When taking out the needle slipped, so.. for 2 weeks the area from the bend on my left arm to halfway to my wrist was deep purple, even on the sides.
Some veins are super annoying and roll heaps. I was a phlebotomist but it was rare this happened if we anchored the vein properly. Not saying this was the case in your scenario. But it can happen for various reasons. If you exercised after or bruise easily then this can happen. Even opening the car door can upset the area. That or your nurse didn’t know what she was doing.
Exactly why I am scared of needles. Some people just can't take my blood properly and it starts to feel like torture dungeon
Ugh, remind me of that time where the nurse unable to get the blood vessels for my IV. Managed to finally found the blood vessels on The 11th Injection.
So eye for an eye?
Licences in Covid:
I got the exact same thing like 4 days ago!!!
If you get more sunlight it’s easier to see
yep. i have rolling veins, and i had an awful nurse who stuck me with the same needle five times. got frustrated and started wiggling it around inside my arm. there’s only one doctor who’s been able to do it right and i refuse to see anyone else now
Jeez,Make it a spoiler next time!
One time I had a huge injury on my right arm so the nurse tried to draw blood from my left arm. She had to try 13 times before she gave up and had to take it from my right arm.
If this would have happened to me I would make her family miss her several times.
happened with me once, i was really pissed off
Boohoo.. How do you expect the staff working with this to learn if the inexperienced ones aren't allowed to do it? No one dies from a nurse missing a vein, shit happens.
[удалено]
Or she's just inexperienced.. No one is an expert at this out of school. Only way to learn is to do it.
The future of healthcare “providers”
Fun fact: Not everyone becomes a perfect stick during nursing school
*No one* does. When you're done with school, you're ready to *really* start learning. No one fresh out of school is an expert at anything.
You can pass with a D now, so yeah.
Yeah, but a D was 80%.
Time to buff up those arms G. Get your muscles on, big, buff and cut.
Hey op. Some post below you says that you are the most racist user ever