Do you have trouble finding veins when drawing blood, starting IVs, or other venipuncture procedures? If so, you're not alone. Many professionals (working in phlebotomy or nursing) struggle with finding veins in many patients or can't find veins at all.

This video is mainly geared towards how to find hard veins for IV ACCESS. Some of these techniques can be applied for drawing blood too. HOWEVER, it is best practice NOT to have the patient pump the fist for BLOOD DRAWS because it can alter results.

Veins can be especially hard to find when patients are obese, dehydrated, or suffering from advanced cardiac or renal disease.

Luckily, there are some solutions that can help you find those difficult veins.

First, you have to learn to palpate the arm to learn what a vein feels like. Oftentimes, I will find a vein by touch, not sight. I'd recommend practicing on your own arm (or someone with great veins) to learn how this feels.

Second, you have to take advantage of tourniquets and hand pumping. Apply the tourniquet and instruct the patient to hold their arm to the side while pumping their fist. This helps those hidden veins become engorged. Sometimes you can't use this technique, though, especially in cases where blood is being drawn for sensitive lab work, but it can help in other cases.

Those two tips above have helped me find veins in most patients who don't have visible veins. Nevertheless, even those tips don't work in all cases.

If you still can't find a vein, you have a few other solutions. You might be able to use a vein finder or vein light tool. Some use bright lights to illuminate the skin, whereas others will use infrared to display vein locations.

In addition, I've consulted with the ultrasound techs, and I've been able to find veins that way.

And finally, you always have a central line option if nothing else works.

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