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[quote=Anonymous]Former RN here. I've seen cases where it took incredibly experienced nurses more than 20 tries to place an IV in a dehydrated patient. In one case I recall, our resident IV expert (former prison nurse who excelled at finding veins even in junkies) could NOT find a vein on a 20 something young woman. Next step was to call in the flight nurses (trauma team) to try. Oops, flight nurses were on a flight. Next up: anesthesiologist. Oops, all were otherwise engaged with patients. The poor girl was about two minutes from having a central line placed (MUCH more invasive than IV and placed in the patient's neck or chest) when FINALLY, after dozens of tries, we finally found a vein in her lower leg. This all took probably around two hours and by then she was in far more serious condition.

Now clearly that's not typical - but I share it as an example of an otherwise healthy young woman who happened to be fairly dehydrated and was suddenly a terrible candidate for a "quick and easy" IV.  There is no good reason to refuse having a saline lock placed. It could make a HUGE difference in case you eventually do need fluids or IV medication.

Keep in mind that agreeing to a saline lock doesn't mean you agree to anything else. It's just a good safety measure to have one in place. [/quote]

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