[Lesli61]

Are there any schools that train students to start IV's? My school does not; they claim that this is a 'specialized' skill for graduate nurses. Is this a trend? I feel a bit nervous graduating without this training. Do any employers expect new grads to have this skill?

[marilynmom]

We are trained to start IV's in nursing school yes, all the nursing schools in my area train their RN's to start IVs. We practice on each other and then on patients in the hospital.

But I wouldn't worry about it. Just as long as you get trained to do it....either at school or through your hospital your going to be fine. I'm sure there are plenty of nursing students who get trained to start IV's in school and really don't get to utilize their skill until after graduation and they are actually working. It's a skill that is not hard, but does take time to get good at....I know a lot of RN's who have a very hard time with starting IV's.

[student456]

here in canada we arent allowed to start iv's until after we graduate. same thing with testing a pt's glucose with a meter...we arent allowed to do that either in my province. we arent taught either until we pass the licensing exam

[Achoo!]

Yes, we are trained, and we do them in clinical rotation as well. I am in Wisconsin.

[Daytonite]

I've not heard of a nursing school at least giving the theory behind starting IVs. I know that some states will not permit students to actually start IVs on patients as it has to do with the state nursing law. It's easy enough to find the theory on IV insertion and I'm listing two threads that have links to these websites at the end of this post for you. I can tell you, having been a CRNI (Certified RN, Intravenous) and worked on IV teams for 6 years, that starting IVs is a skill that takes many years to become proficient at. There are a lot of nuances to this skill. When I first started doing IVs I was incredibly bad at it. I took the 30-hour LVN IV therapy certification course here in California at the encouragement of one of the hospital supervisors. It was the best advice I ever got and followed up on. These kinds of courses are offered by continuing education providers. Although I had had the theory in nursing school, being a practicing RN was a big difference. After each class I was able to go back and practice what I had learned in the class; my LPN classmates could not which was unfortunate for them. Within 6 months and taking every opportunity I could find to start IVs I was showing definite improvement in my skill. Eventually, I made my way to IV teams where I really mastered the skill.

This IV starting seems to be a popular subject right now. I've posted these links a lot recently. Check out the websites posted within them. However, ultimately, starting IVs isn't much different than target shooting. But don't be fooled. Not everyone is capable of being an olympic-level champion at it, especially if they don't put in the ground work to get there.

I wish you well with this as you start your journey at learning this skill.

• http://allnurses.com/forums/f18/iv-tips-tricks-3793.html - IV Tips and Tricks
• http://allnurses.com/forums/f50/iv-insertion-help-241892.html - IV Insertion...HELP!!! - I posted websites that have information on how to start an IV on this thread

[x3xsolxdierx3x]

Hi all,

It's been awhile since Iv'e posted here at allnurses.com....but, just thought I'd chime in here....

My university doesn't either.....I received training in initiating IVs through the Army.....they had no problem with letting everyone and anyone just poke holes in other people....lol....we needed to all successfully initiate an IV just before deploying to Afghanistan, in '02-'03, shortly after 9/11.....

[southernbelle08]

Yes, we are trained at my school. We learn in the 2nd semester of the program and start doing them during clinicals 2nd semester as well.