Veins Now Easier To Find Thanks To New Device

That can be a big problem for people with veins that are hard to find. But a new device --

the Venoscope

-- makes the first stick count.

It's nothing more than a combination of red, white and blue lights.

But within Moore Regional Hospital's Emergency Department, the Venoscope is a nurse's best friend. A smaller version of the Venoscope can even find veins on premature newborn babies. The light source is cool so it won't burn the skin.

"I wish we had it a long time ago," Nancy Hilliard, a registered nurse at Moore Regional Hospital, said.

Hilliard has more than two decades of experience hunting for veins to start intravenous lines. Still, sometimes finding a vein can be hit or miss, she said.

"Everybody's arm is a different size. Everybody has a different amount of tissue and a different amount of muscle," she said.

The differences can make veins hard to find. The Venoscope takes away the guesswork.

With the Venoscope, a vein shows up as a dark shadow between the lights.

"What you're looking for is a straight vein that doesn't have a valve close to it or a bend," she said. "She has a bifurcation here, so I certainly wouldn't want to put one in there."

With the right vein visible, the nurse straps the Venoscope in place and starts the IV line.

"With experience, you can find it, and patients can see it too. So it's been well received," she said.

It's also been well received, she said, because most patients hate to get pricked.

"Anytime you get stuck more than once it's too much," she said.