IV removal etiquette?

Two questions:

1)how to remove IVs without getting drops of blood on patients?

2) Do you always glove your removed IV and then throw in trash? I just feel like I will stick myself doing that.
1) Use gauze. You can't avoid blood coming out of a large vein, it is a vein after all. I usually put the gauze over the site as I am pulling out the IV and apply pressure as soon as it is out to stop the bleeding.2) Correct me if I am misunderstanding this part of the question. There is no needle left in an IV that is actively being use in a patient. The needle is retracted after the IV is placed and a small plastic tube is left in the vein. This tube will not cause a needle stick injury as it is a flexible piece of plastic. You don't need to put a glove over it to throw it out.

Quote from yuzzamatuzz1) Use gauze. You can't avoid blood coming out of a large vein, it is a vein after all. I usually put the gauze over the site as I am pulling out the IV and apply pressure as soon as it is out to stop the bleeding.2) Correct me if I am misunderstanding this part of the question. There is no needle left in an IV that is actively being use in a patient. The needle is retracted after the IV is placed and a small plastic tube is left in the vein. This tube will not cause a needle stick injury as it is a flexible piece of plastic. You don't need to put a glove over it to throw it out.

I always throw my d/cd IV in the sharps container. No one wants to come in contact with it changing the trash even though its not technically sharp its bloody

Quote from Kara RN BSNI always throw my d/cd IV in the sharps container. No one wants to come in contact with it changing the trash even though its not technically sharp its bloody

That makes sense actually. My hospital just trained us all to do it that way

The others are correct. A used IV is not a sharp. I educate patients about that a lot. It alleviates fear because they think they have a needle in their arm when they don't. It also helps them understand why their pump keeps alarming when they bend their arm because it's a piece of tubing that will kink like a garden hose.

use gauze, hold pressure, and throw it in the sharps bin

Quote from pa715Two questions:1)how to remove IVs without getting drops of blood on patients?2) Do you always glove your removed IV and then throw in trash? I just feel like I will stick myself doing that.

I usually just hold the 2x2 over the IV site when I'm removing it... and if for some reason you get a couple drops of blood on the patient, no big deal. Just wipe it off.

When I dc an IV I get 3 things; an alcohol pad, a 2x2 gauze & a bandaid. I use the alcohol pad to help loosen the tape adhesive. The 2x2 gauze is put on top of the IV site to catch the blood from applying pressure at site, a bandaid is used at the end, in case there is any more blood. The IV cath is thrown into the trash.

I am like a few others here: I use an alcohol prep pad or two to loosen/remove any tape or transparent dressings. Then when I'm ready to actually remove the catheter, I place a folded 2x2 over the site, apply pressure, and smoothly pull the catheter out while maintaining pressure at the site. This prevents too much blood from leaking out or spraying anywhere. After a little while, I will use a piece of tape or a bandaid to cover the site and prevent further bleeding. I do apply some tension to the tape so that there will be some pressure at the site until the patient takes the dressing off or it falls off on it's own. End result: effectively no bleeding at the site. I don't worry about sticking myself with the catheter because they're flexible and not sharp. I may hold the cath in a glove and remove the glove over the cath, but that depends upon whether I have to put the cath in the sharps box or if it can simply go in a biohazard trash can instead.

All good suggestions but the fact that you may be having a problem tells me that you may not be pulling the tape off well BEFORE you attempt cannula removal. I carefully peel off each side until all the tape is loose then you can have a controlled pull of the cannula.Loosening techniques that have been described are all good. I use skin prep around the insertion site with every start as not only does it protect the skin it makes the dressing removal easier for the patient. I only use a small TSM and then paper tape or hypa fix tape on thin or fragile skin. I do not appreciate it nor do I find the care to be individualized when plastic tape is applied on such skin. I know that is appreciated it when it comes time to discontinue the PIV. Always pull the cannula out flush with the skin so as not to enlarge the puncture site or damage the vein as both of these can increase bleeding after removal of the cannula.Elevation of the arm will also slow down the bleeding as well as stopping any continuous infusion a few minutes before you discontinue the cannula. Once in awhile I may use these techniques if I know the patient will most likely bleed a lot and I want to minimize my hold time after discontinuation. You know the type.....pts on Heparin drips with leaky IV sites,pts with very thin skin on Coumadin,pts with low plt counts,pts htat are very bruised,and ACF sites to name a few.