OH! Man, I hope you're ok. How the hell do you mistake a tendon for a vein? Veins are clearly a very different color from tendons. If you have dark skin or your veins aren't that visible then I can understand a bit better. Like I said, I hope you're ok and you don't have to go through something like this again. Hope this doesn't stop you from donating blood again in the future. Try asking for a more experienced nurse next time. I believe you can do that in most places.

your so vein (joke, for any of you idiots that'll see it and immediately critique every part of this)

Oh god, this happened to me during a blood test.

Ugh! I feel your pain; throughout my life, I've been in the hospital at least 17 times. I've had quite a couple of bad run-ins with retarded nurses. It ain't fun.

How in the hell could people pick YDI? I don't see what exactly the OP did to deserve to be injured. They were actually doing a good deed.

YDI for just being you, all throughout the day! :-) Just kidding. I clicked on FYL. That's terrible. #76 this is a small world wow! I wasn't there I'm just saying.

Don't trust nurses (for IVs, anyway). Ask for medics or IV therapists :) But yeah, with giving blood, kinda the luck of the draw. I can understand on some people a tendon can feel like a vein, or sometimes the vein is right on a tendon, and if that's the only AC you have, they prefer to go there for blood draws. #34 - I have no idea why that nurse would've done that. Not smart on her part at all. Whenever someone looks like a tough stick, or if they're bruised like crazy because they're always getting blood drawn or IVs, I ALWAYS ask where they get stuck. Makes my job easier. I'm not gonna try two or three times on the left arm to find out their best vein is on the right. #66 - The theory with starting in the hand is if you start in the AC (the area where the elbow bends), and you miss the stick, you can't go any lower on the arm. So it's GENERALLY preferred (of course there are exceptions) that you start in the hand. And remember, blood draws use a butterfly or straight stick. That's when the needle is left in your arm, and they typically draw from the AC. IVs only begin with a hollow needle, but as soon as it's in the vein, a catheter is advanced, and that stays in your vein, the needle does not, and that's when it's better to start in the hand.

omg that sucks!! you try to do a good thing and it turns out like that. i feel so bad for u

Oh my gosh, you had a moment of discomfort while doing a good deed. I hear there are support groups you can join to help you recover from this needless trauma. Tendons can feel a lot like veins, and even the most experienced practitioners occasionally miss. If we "fired" every nurse, paramedic, doctor, phlebotomist etc. that ever missed a stick, we'd have no healthcare providers left at all.

This is why I don't give blood.

hey i donated blood yesterday too !! :) all went well for me though.

I hate incompetent nurses. Why they allow old ladies who can't hold their shaky-ass hands still for two seconds to handle large needles is beyond me.