I probably shouldn't be admitting this, but I learned while volunteering with a doc...with a straight needle no less! Luckily my first few pts. had horse-veins, hence no major drama.
However (ARGH!!), one time I had to draw on this giant construction worker with absolutely no venous structure...I must have beat on that guy's forearms (and hands and biceps and wrists) for 20 minutes trying to find something. By the time I actually got one to show, my hands were shaking so bad I ended up sticking him 3 or 4 times...I kept losing the sucker. There is nothing worse than a pt. with veins that run away from needles! Also, it didn't help that the guy absolutely hated needles. After the third try I started to feel in danger of losing teeth!
Anyways, I did finally get him drawn, though he had so many holes in him afterwards he could have passed for a junkie with a pretty good habit (needless to say, I just about used the office's supply of bandaids patching him up).
I still feel bad to this day, although the following week I was discussing it with the regular nurse and she expressed that she had done the same thing to him earlier...his veins were just TERRIBLE.
...sticking to the butterflys from now on!
-d
ps: for all you kiddies learning to draw, I gots one message for you: BE SURE TO TAKE OFF THE TOURNIQUET BEFORE REMOVING THE NEEDLE! (Unless you want to turn the office into a scene from Nightmare on Elm Street!)