Step 18: Remove the plastic cap from the butterfly needle and stick the needle into the vein

Guidelines:

• To hold the needle, grasp the plastic “wings” between your thumb and first finger.
  
• Hold the needle with the hole (the bevel) facing up and the sharp point down.  The point of the needle will go through the skin easier this way.
  
• Always enter the vein with the needle pointing toward the heart.
  
• Pierce the skin first at a 45 degree angle.  Then lower the angle of the needle until it is almost parallel to the skin.  Then enter the vein.  “Thread” the needle into the vein following the vein’s direction under the skin.
  
• Enter the vein with a quick sure stick.  If you approach the vein too slowly, it is more likely to roll.

Caution: Do not touch the end of the needle.

• If you touch the end of the needle, put it in your sharps disposal container and get a new one.
  
• If you start to get a bruise at the injection site, take out the needle and apply pressure (see Steps 25 and 26).  Repeat the procedure using a new injection site and a new needle.

Figure 4-18 Needle entering a vein.