narily pulling back when only the needle got in.
Once the catheter is in the vein and you've seen a good blood
return, flush the catheter and make sure there's no edema at the site
to ensure that it's definitely in the vessel.
Above all, believe from the beginning that you're going to achieve
first-stick success. If you start off fearing that you'll fail, your lack of
confidence will affect your efforts, and your patients. OSM
9 5
J U N E 2 0 1 5 | O U T P A T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T
Ms. Cennamo (alice@piccresource.com) is president of PICC Resource Associates, a vas-
cular access training and services company in Shelton, Conn.
