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Vein Viewer
April 30, 2008 |
Getting pricked more than once by a needle is far from pleasant especially if
you’re just a kid. Dr. John Iacone is the Executive Director of The Children’s
Hospital of Southwest Florida. He says, “It’s bad enough to get stuck once for
an IV but to have to get stuck more than once creates anxiety and stress and
tears.” But unfortunately it can often take more than one prick for a nurse to
find a child’s tiny veins. “About the nine month to the two year olds are the
hardest ones. A-they don’t like to hold still very well and B-they’ve got a lot
of baby fat around their veins so they’re almost impossible to see,” says Dr.
Iacone. Until now, that’s thanks to a piece of technology called the vein
viewer. Dr. Iacone says, “This device is so dramatic in terms of identifying a
vein.” The Vein Viewer enables nurses to literally see through the skin so they
can locate healthy veins long before a needle comes into play. “To have the vein
viewer in a very traumatic kind of stressful situation to be able for the
nurse’s confidence to know that there it is and I can see it and it’s the best
one. This is probably one of the coolest things that’s hit for a while because
it just has such a huge impact on reducing anxiety and fear and pain,” says Dr.
Iacone. The Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida now has two Vein Viewers
that were purchases by the Hospital Auxiliary Program. The machines are mobile
and can be used in any part of the hospital. The Vein Viewers are mostly used in
the oncology and intensive care units. |
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