For Research: IV Question for a Nurse?

Question

I'm writing a novel and need some help. My character is about to try and go to the bathroom alone so she can get dressed and try to leave the hospital she's in. She pulls the IV tubes from the needles. Is this possible one-handed or would she, in reality, pull the needles from her hand, too? What would happen (i.e. leaking tubes, huge mess, tons of bleeding, a lot of pain, etc.)

Also, how soon would the nurse station attendants figure out what she'd done, based on usual IV monitoring? Thanks for your help. The more detail, the better, and please list your medical credentials somewhere in your answer. Thanks again.

Answer 1

Yes, it's possible to use just one hand to remove the IV tubing from the catheter (the needle doesn't stay in your hand/arm) without removing the catheter, too. There's usually tape and a clear, plastic almost square sticker called a tegaderm covering the catheter, so that would have to be removed, too. Then the IV tubing would need to be unscrewed from the hub where it attaches to the catheter. Sure, it could be done one-handed, but you'd have to be very careful because those catheters become dislodged easily - that's why there's always so much tape on them. If someone successfully unhooked the tubing without removing the cathether, what would happen is blood would beging to pour out of the open cathether hub - it is, after all, in a vein. However, if the person knew enough, he/she could clamp off the little tube between the hub and the catheter, thereby preventing any back-flow of blood...that's if the person who placed the IV used an extension set when starting it. If the person who started the IV did not use an extension set (a short piece of tubing with a little port to injection bolus meds through) and hooked the IV line directly to the catheter's hub, then there would be no way of stopping the flow of blood from coming out once the line was disconnected....no, this would not be painful. If the IV line was being run through an IV pump (as opposed to just by gravity without the aid of a pump), there would probably not be an alarm sounded from the pump as the pump has no idea that the line was disconnected (I say "probably" because that is what would happen with the pumps I use as well as all the pumps in the hospitals I go to).

There you go. Hope it helps.