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​STEM Venipuncture:  Science, Technology, Engineering and Math - applied to the Venipuncture procedure.


Vein Access Technologies
a division of The Nurses' Station, P.C.
​​
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The only organization in the
World to teach, consult, and train
in the 21st century techniques
of locating, dilating, grading,
and accessing  veins for any and
all venipuncture procedures.  
And Vein Access Technologies is the only one in the World to teach the advanced 21st century Point-of-Care Infant Heel Stick and Finger Stick Technique.  


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        "It's hard to believe that in spite of all of the highly 
         sophisticated tools that exist today to
 perform venipuncture   
          and POC procedures, that these procedures still result in
           
          compromise, complication, injury and failure - but they do.  
​          Why?  

Vein Access Technologies
 has the scientific
 explanations and the scientific solutions to these problems."                                                         M. Gail Stotler, Vein Access Technologist

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                                                             NO MORE    "Rubber Hose and a Thump" ! 

                                               NO MORE     Smacking, Slapping, Flicking, or Tapping !! 

                    NO MORE     'Stick and hope you hit something and keep sticking until you do' !!!
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The  NEW  Vein Access Technologies'  STANDARDS  OF  CARE

for Venipuncture and Point-of-Care procedures are here.
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​                     As the title states:
 Where Tools, Technique, and Science meet!
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  • The TOOLs of the trade have always been scientifically designed and SCIENCE-based.

  • The TECHNIQUES  by which these Venipuncture (VA) and POC procedures are performed today are NOT science-based - truly.  I know this is hard to believe, but today's venipuncture and POC procedures are performed with 'evidence-based' technique, not science-based technique.  Evidence-based, in this case, means trial-and-error, anecdotal and empirical practices that have been 'handed down' over time and tweaked by each individual performing the procedure. 
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  • SCIENCE is the key to unlocking this conundrum: Anatomy of the Vein, Physiology of the Venous System, Chemistry, Physics, and Math.  VAT took this Science and applied it.  This has never been done before, until now.  Why?  VAT has that explanation as well.

                                                                                                           Vein Access Technologies took SCIENCE
                                              and applied it to the use of the TOOLS in the Vein Access (venipuncture) and POC procedures
                                                                                                                   producing new TECHNIQUE.


                                                         21cVA Technique     *      21POC Technique
                                                                          Vein Access (venipuncture)                                                                         Point-of-Care (POC)



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​                                    Grab a non-alcoholic beverage and have a seat......this is NOT a short story!
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                                         Vein Access has been a mess for 1600 years, through the bloodletting era with a razor 
                                         in the 5th-19th century, through the current 19th-20th century 'stick and hope you hit
                                         something and keep sticking until you do' era with a needle, until TODAY -
                                          when it all changes for the better with the 21st century Technique and VeniCuff tool.
                                          
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23 years ago Vein Access Technologies scientifically analyzed the venipuncture and point-of-care procedures, and wrote the book
                        The Science Behind the Skill of Vein Access
 which explaines all of the problems with the current methods, and defines a better way, a new Technique, to perform all venipuncture
procedures (i.e blood draws, IVs, injection of contrast, blood donation, plasmapheresis, kidney dialysis, and PICC line insertions), and a better way to perform the point-of-care (POC) procedures (the finger stick and infant heel stick) - 23 years ago!  

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Old Habits Die Hard!  It's time to come into the 21st century!

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Listed below are the  problems with the 'evidence-based' methods currently used.....and the EVIDENCE suggests that there are many problems with the current methods....and here they are.....

                                               The Compromises, Complications, Injuries, and Failures (c/c/i/f s) 
                                                                    associated with today's Venipuncture and Point-of-Care procedures. 
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  • Multiple stick events 
  • Vein rupture
  • Infiltration 
  • Hemoconcentration 
  • Extensive vein wall injury
  • Hemolysis 
  • Hemodilution (POC procedures only) 
  • Insufficient Quantity Sampling  (QNS) 
  • Crush injuries
  • Bruising 
  • Paresthesias 
  • Achilles Tendon Strain/Sprain/Tears
  • Phlebitis 
  • Cellulitis 
  • Volkmann’s Contracture 
  • Amputation 
  • Soft Tissue extravasations 
  • Soft Tissue crush injuries 
  • HAIs 
  • Psychological and physical pain/discomfort to the patient 
  • Occupational Safety risks of accidental sticks and body fluid exposure 
  • Delay in Diagnosis
  • Inaccurate Diagnosis 
  • Delay in Treatment 
  • Inaccurate Treatment 
  • Increased (LOS) length of (hospital) stay 
  • Additional levels of medical intervention 
  • Increased costs:  supplies, personnel time, and liability
  • Increased PICC line insertions with Increased DVT/PE   
 

​Again, 
"It's hard to believe that in spite of all of the highly sophisticated tools that exist today to
perform venipuncture  and POC procedures, that these procedures still frequently result in compromise, complication, injury and failure - but they do.'    
​M. Gail Stotler, Vein Access Technologist



The magnitude and the gravity of these problems, and the fact that it covers 3 major disciplines in the practice of Medicine (Nursing, Radiology, and Laboratory Medicine) is a BIG story.

If this had been a medical research study - the study would have been stopped immediately due to the magnitude and gravity of the problems, and the negative impact that it has on the medical outcome.

Venipuncture procedures (collection and infusion) and POC procedures (collection) are the technological FOUNDATION
of the diagnostic and therapeutic practice of Medicine.

With this many errors in these foundational procedures, the medical outcome can be compromised, and frequently is.

 

To see a 12 page bibliography list citing 159 select articles written on these very c/c/i/f s, fill out the request box at the bottom of this website.




These compromises, complications, injuries, and failures  (c/c/i/f s)  listed above AFFECT:
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                                   N
ursing                                        Radiology                             Laboratory Medicine    
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                                       RNs  /  LPNs  /  X-ray Techs  /  MLTs  /  Phlebotomists  /  Paramedics  /  Medical Assistants


                                                            Blood Draw - Phlebotomy                   Blood Donation                         PICC Line Insertions 
                                                            Injection of Contrast                               
Plasmapheresis                         Finger Stick  - POC    
                                                            IV                                                                          Kidney Dialysis                         Infant Heel Stick - POC 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
                                Every healthcare worker who performs venipuncture and/or POC testing was left to figure out on their own 
                                how to use the tools, how to locate veins, how to insert needles into veins, and how to collect the specimen or 
                                infuse the biologic.

                                                         The PRE-venipuncture components (identifying a patient by their name bracelet......) and  
                                                          the POST-venipuncture components (labeling tubes and applying bandaids....)
                                                          have been described and are taught in great detail.  

         But the detail of VENIPUNCTURE (and POC testing) - is missing and/or inaccurate.
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​                                       
Here are some Scientific examples:


Example #1        Current ‘Standards of Care’ call for smacking, slapping, flicking, or tapping - to dilate a vein (for the purpose of locating a vein).
      
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Here’s some of the ‘missing science information’ that is needed for this analysis.
                                             
             
               Per Gray’s Anatomy – the vein has an innervated smooth muscle media; pg. 1131,
               from the 1901 unabridged running press edition of Gray’s Anatomy.  Presented in 1858.
 
                Per general Physiology, if you ‘pain’ stimulate an innervated muscle, contraction occurs.
     

         
When the above A&P science is applied to this 'smacking, slapping, flicking, and tapping' that occurs,  vasoconstriction will occur –
         and it does.  That's why they can't find the vein - it got 'smaller', not larger.  That's why they can't see blood, even if they were in the
         vein.  That's one factor contributing to the multiple stick event - 'stick and hope you hit something and keep sticking until you do'.

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Example #2        The current teachings teach that the '.....vein itself has no innervation....' pg 18, Phlebotomy for Nurses.
  • If it’s not innervated- then why teach that smacking, slapping, flicking, or tapping will produce dilatation?
  • If it’s not innervated –  then smacking, slapping, flicking, or tapping will not produce – anything!
  • If it is innervated – then s/s/f/t will produce vasoconstriction!             
  • IT IS INNERVATED!!!!!  Don't smack, slap, flick, or tap!


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​     AND NOW WE HAVE TO TALK ABOUT THE CURRENT TOOLS......
 
                                       


​                                          Tourniquet    *    Needles    *   Tubes    *    Adapter     *    Contrast Injector    
                                        Vein Finder     *    Ultrasound    *     Nanobot    *    Prep Agent



                                                                              No matter which NEW TOOL
                                           or which 'tweaked to the nth degree' OLD TOOL is used
                                                                        - these problems still exist.  
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                                                                                               WHY?

                                            _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

              Because these scientifically designed tools must be used with scientific technique.


                                                                  ADD THE          21cVA Technique      TO ALL TOOLS!


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As you are beginning to see - it's a LONG story - that has had 1600 years
to become the convoluted conundrum that it is -
with all of the compromises, complications, injuries, and failures.  
It's time to bring SCIENCE into the picture.

 
Where Tools, Technique and Science meet!

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​
​What's next?  
Who should perform these procedures?
​How should they be done?

​

    You need to know more about these advancements - select one article from the list below, and write the title of the article  in the comment box - and we will send you this select article, FREE.            Please Tell Your Friends! 

Submit


​List of Vein Access Technologies' articles:


 How Does Venipuncture Differ In The Elderly?  
       Abstract  Venipuncture in the elderly population seems to present its own set of problems, a different set of problems, than the problems encountered in the rest of  the population.  There are more multiple stick
           events, more misses.  Veins seem to ‘roll’.  There are more ruptured veins upon venipuncture that the rest of the population.  Bruising occurs more frequently, and in much more severity.  And infiltration of IVs is more
           pronounced in the elderly population than in any other.  Why?  The aging anatomy of the vein and the physiology venous system must be carefully and thoroughly considered in venipuncture of the elderly; something
          that has not been clearly identified, defined or explained up to this point in the history of vein access.  This article addresses that and even provides scientific solutions to the  problems.                              


If It's Not Palpable, It's Not Stickable!
      Abstract    We’re talking about the vein.  There are many “misses” in vein access.  They miss on the blood draw.  They miss on the IV.  They miss when injecting contrast.    They miss with the blood donation.  They miss! 
          In 2008, in hospitals alone, there were 174 million vein access failures out of the 263 million ordered.  Visualizing a  vein, with the naked eye or with a vein finder tool, didn't improve the situation essentially at all.  What
          is missing?  If the vein is not palpable, in accordance with the new Vein Access Technologies' Standards of Care for Venipuncture, then that vein is not '
stickable', and should not be accessed.                     

 WARNING!  The Infant Heel Stick Method of Pinching the Baby’s Foot Back to Its Shin Must Stop - Immediately!
       Abstract   The current heel stick method for infants is completely unnatural.  It does not utilize any of the laws of nature or the limits of anatomy and physiology; in fact, it does just the opposite.  This causes
         unnecessary injury to the infant's Achilles Tendon and to the soft tissue of the heel,  and at least 50% of the time results in a laboratory specimen that cannot be used due to hemolysis, hemodilution, and/or insufficient
         quantity sampling -  thus requiring a second, third, or fourth  attempt – and more injury.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Natural Dilatation vs. Artificial Dilatation  
       Abstract   Dilatation is dilatation.  Or is it?  What part of the Anatomy and Physiology of the Vein is missing from the current teaching literature about dilating a vein with respect to venipuncture procedures?  
           Today's teaching materials about the vein are limited to the vascular diagram (the vascular tree), depicting and labeling the veins and the names of those veins in the antecubital and wrist regions.  But this is barely the
           tip of that iceberg.  There is an advanced level of anatomy and physiology of the vein and venous system that needs to be considered when trying to dilate a vein and in understanding the effects of that vein dilatation -
           natural and artificial.  There are  consequences - good consequences when the vein is naturally dilated and bad consequences when it is artificially dilated with a Tourniquet.                                                        



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                                                   Vein Access Technologies is an approved 2014
                                Clinical Laboratory Personnel Committee Continuing Education Provider
                                                            by the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners



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Vein Access Technologies offers CEs - for all medical personnel with the purchase of 
VAT Articles   or    Vein Access Technology Training Programs.​

Copyright 2014.  All rights reserved.  Content and images may not be duplicated unless authorized by The Nurses' Station or Vein Access Technologies.

The Nurses' Station, P.C.               2 Terminal Drive, Suite 1                 East Alton, Il.  62024                  618-259-7781 
  • Introduction
  • The Nurses' Station, P.C.
  • CE Reviews
  • Articles
  • Covid-19 Vaccine Injection
  • The INFILTRATION
  • CNA Association IL
  • Vein Access Technologies
  • Products & Services
  • BP CE
  • Complementary Nursing Therapies