There are only a few things in life (and I can't think of any at this moment) that make you feel so much better about yourself than when a patient, whom you're attempting to start an IV on and fail for whatever reason, tells you something like "It's OK. It always takes 5 or 6 tries to get my blood".
I'm usually pretty good at poking people with different gauge needles (I will always remember my first and, so far the only, 16 gauge IV... oh how good it felt to get that sucker in! I mean, it looks like a garden hose, for god's sake! And on the first try too!). I take pride in often starting IVs on our frequent flyers who literally have no veins left. However, we all have our days when we're just not meant to start any of our IVs successfully, even after a couple of tries. It's as if God wakes up every morning and distributes phlebotomy success points amongst all the nurses. ("This one gets 5, this one gets 9, and this one gets only 2 for today's shift... Okay, I think I can go get a coffee now... Oh, crap, forgot this sorry-looking under-caffeinated one! Oh well, no points left to go around. I definitely wouldn't want to be her patient today. [evil laugh] )
So, if you ever were a patient in an ER and wondered how to make your nurse feel better (and please tell me that this thought crossed your mind at least once in your lifetime so it will restore my faith in humanity), just tell her that it's OK he or she missed or blew your vein while starting an IV. It might not sound like a lot but it definitely means a lot. I might even pick a 25 instead of a 22 gauge IV catheter for my next try.
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