Description of a practical model for learning of peripheral venous access by students of medicine and nursing

Abstract

AIMS: To describe a simple and low cost model of peripheral venous access, developed by the Trauma League of Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, which aims acquiring new skills by the health student/professional. METHODS: In order to simulate the peripheral access via, we used a rubber tourniquet, which ended in a blind end, simulating a vein, inserted on a latex glove full of fill material. The other extremity was connected to a bag of parenteral solution containing 500 ml of physiologic serum with dye, to simulate blood, through infusion equipos. The bag was hanged higher than the glove, making the gravity laws work. With the flow meter completely open, a pressure is created by the presence of air with liquid inside the infusion equipos and the tourniquet. The first puncture with the catheter takes out the air inside the cannulas, which allows the procedure to be done properly. RESULTS: The puncture, when done properly, causes the artificial blood to reflow into the puncture catheter, which does not happen when the rubber tourniquet is transfixed. This simulates a real life situation of venous puncture, because the hydrostatic pressure inside the tourniquet is analogous to that found in a vein. CONCLUSIONS: The description of the didactic model allows its reproducibility in an easy way, since the required materials are cheap and easily available. The model provides the initial familiarity with the procedure, making it easier to practice in the patient or in more sophisticated models, indispensable for the improvement of the technique.