H.C. Practise Nurse

[Matheous-2]

Can anyone suggest an exercise of any kind I could perform that would help our Health Centre nurse find a vein in my arm that she can take a sample from? I dread going for this as it's usually pretty painful while she pokes me in the wrong places.....!

[bednobs]

use a warm compress on your arm first

[Sqad]

No...

[classylady60]

I have the same problem it's a nightmare isn't it? Best thing I can think of is hold your harm straight down and keep squeezing the fingers and opening the hand...has to be done for several minutes and then also tapping lightly where the vein is....doesn't always help but it has done for me in the past. Also keeping the arm and area warm sometimes helps.

CL

[classylady60]

Forgot to say, you can also ask for a "baby blue" needle which is a finer than usual needle which helps when you have smaller or invisible veins...they might accommodate you with that, depends on the person taking the bloods.

[Matheous-2]

classylady60 -I think if I ask for a "baby blue" she will at least think I'm a bloody wimp without actually saying so! - But fk it -I don't like pain so I might.....

[classylady60]

Matheous.....doesn't matter what she thinks...if it alleviates the pain then that's all that matters. Been there done that so I know what it's like....you get to the stage where you don't care how they do it as long as it's quick and painless (almost). It does also depend on who's taking the bloods...some are excellent at it and I feel no pain....others..well...don't think they got the gist of doing it ever....guess it's a case of you're either good at a job or not and some definitely aren't good at blood taking!

[Matheous-2]

I agree. -It would seem to me that such people are not fit to do the job!!!

[scotman]

Do you have this problem in both arms? I usually get blood taken from left arm as right has difficult veins.

[welshlibranr]

ask for a different nurse!........Would not tolerate this!........no excuse for her incompetance!.............

[Sqad]

welshlibranr

<<<ask for a different nurse!........Would not tolerate this!........no excuse for her incompetance!.....>>>>

Incompetence!...INCOMPETENCE! you don't know what you are talking about....the vein is the problem.........NOT the nurse.
In some people,particularly the obese, veins in the arms can be notoriously difficult to find and sometimes impossible to locate. many times one may have to do it "blind" by feel. Never...never call someone INCOMPETENT when they are doing their best for your benefit...........!!!!!!

[mike11111]

I have to agree with Sqad 100% here. I have to have a blood test at least twice a year, and until about 4 years ago there was never any problem; needle in, blood sucked out, job done. Suddenly for some reason it became rather difficult to find a vein and it might take 3 or 4 goes before success. At this point I must state that I am not obese; in fact my arms are so skinny that If I stand sideways they look skeletal. At one of my diabetic check-ups last year the surgery sister was unable to extract any blood after 5 attempts (which as you can imagine can be rather painful and stressful, so it did my BP readings no favours) so she called in my GP who tried with similar lack of success, eventually having to refer me, with many apologies, to the phlebotomy clinic at the local hospital. A few months later I was hospitalised for other reasons, which involved having blood samples taken every day. As you can imagine this was beginning to freak me out as the nurses probed, prodded and jabbed 4 or 5 times before getting a result. It got to the point that whenever I saw the blood nurse come on to the ward I would have a panic attack. One day a nurse of more mature years, almost like a caricature from a 1950s hospital comedy film came to my bed. I explained apologetically that she might have some difficulty like all the other nurses, to which she replied, "I won't!" Needle in, blood out, all in 20 secs. I fell in love with her at that point and insisted that she be the only one to take blood from me in the future. Apparently there is an art to it, and if you get a proper phlebotomy-trained nurse there is no problem. I know, however, how stressful it can be in the hands of a less experienced practitioner.

[anneasquith]

i have the same problem........... ask the nurse to use a butterfly needle on the back of your hand, a bit painful but better than several stabbs in the arm !

[marval]

I agree with Anne, the nurse just goes straight for my hand

[carlton23]

I have been having them since 1973 and very regularly due to warfarin tablets which I have to take for the rest of my life, and I agree with anne, a butterfly needle in the back of the hand is usually my choice, (if I`m given one) as my veins in my arms are now virtually useless. There is one phlebotomist that I do dread seeing though as she always goes right through the vein and draws blood out as she withdraws the needle, thus, a nice bruise appears.