I have this long ago created fear of needles. The idea of a sharp object penetrating my body from the outside world makes me...well...nauseous. The first experience I remember of these dreaded needles was when I was in kindergarten. I walked into this tiny, cold room, with only two chairs and a giant table. I looked up into the face of this women who seemed to be at least 10 ft tall. Her pearly white teeth were smiling back at me as if she knew something I didn't. My mom was walking with me, as if nothing were wrong. Inside I knew she must be scared too! Then, without warning, this giant women bends down and picks me up! What was she doing to me?! She set me on a chair and handed me a little dumb dumb sucker, probably poisonous, and a stuffed bear, as if that would help! I could feel tears beginning to well up in my eyes; I would not let her see me cry though. She began rubbing this cold, wet towel thing on my arm and told me to relax. She then whipped out this needle, the size of a garden hose, and smiled that evil smile again.
Next thing I remember...I was sitting under the table...screaming for her to get that thing away from me. Why I chose to be a nurse....Heaven only knows. I gave my first injection last winter semester, and it went surprisingly well; I only fainted once. Just kidding, I didn't even faint. But this week, was the much dreaded week of the MedSurg semester in nursing. IV's. I felt calm going in and throughout all the instruction. Then it came time to practice on a partner. Laura my partner stuck me first. I asked her to, so that way I would know how it felt when I stuck her. My heart was pounding out of my chest as I watched her stick a needle and a plastic tube into my vein. She did amazing! It really didn't even hurt and there was barely any blood. Then it was my turn.
I found a vein on Laura, which was not an easy task. My heart went from beating out of my chest, to not beating at all. I counted to three, and pushed the needle in. Just my luck...her vein rolls and I miss it all together. After fishing for it for a while (sorry Laura), I finally pulled out the tubing and needle and got Laura some juice because she looked like she was going to faint. I looked at my instructor and said, "Oh well. I tried, maybe next time I'll get it." Without saying a word, she sat down in the patients chair, and stuck her arm out. I think my face went as pale as Laura's. I grabbed another needle, more gauze, and tried to scrape up some lost confidence.
Longer story short. I made it into my instructors vein, but went a bit to far and infiltrated her vein, which means she'll probably have a nice bruise to show her kids back at home. She was so nice to me and was so positive and confident in me, even after I wrecked her vein. So maybe I didn't do amazing. Maybe I struggled a bit with my first IV. But when all else fails...try, try again. Right?
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