Sim Lab

Since we don't start clincials (going to the OR) until this summer, we are practicing the skills that we learn in a simulation lab at school. Right now we are learning how to put in central lines (they are like IVs but instead of going in a peripheral vein on your arm or your hand they go into a much larger, more central, vein in your neck) and arterial lines (these go in arteries instead of veins and they are used to monitor blood pressure instead of to give medication). These first two pictures are of me putting in a central line. This is a sterile procedure meaning that we have to wear a sterile gown, sterile gloves and cover the patient in a sterile drape in an effort to minimize the risk of infection since the tip of this IV will be sitting right next to the patient's heart and we do not want that to get infected! The hat and mask are required for everyone in the operating room to wear at all times (again, to minimize the infection risk) so when I'm not putting in a sterile line, I will normally just be wearing those, gloves and scrubs.












In the picture on the left I am feeling for the patient's artery (which will be pulsatile, this is what they are feeling for in the movies when they go to "check a pulse") so that I can be sure not to hit it as I insert the needle into the vein. In the picture on the right I have successfully found the vein with the needle, I then threaded a wire into the vein (through the needle), removed the needle and I am now putting the catheter into the vein over the wire. In this last picture I am putting an arterial line into the dummy's wrist (it was too hot to keep wearing my gown). This time I was feeling for the pulsatile artery and aiming for it, this is the same pulse the nurse uses to count your heart rate when you have a check-up.I made it on the AANA website!