Do I need a BSN to be an IV nurse?

IVRUS, BSN, RN · Jun 19, 2013

IMO, it is always good to advance your education, however, Infusion Nursing is a speciality that only requires one to have their RN, and then ideally, obtain your Certified Registered Nurse Infusion (CRNI).

Once you become a CRNI you can be seen as an expert in Infusion Therapy and really if that is your goal, why pay for the BSN, unless it is for self fullfillment, or if your ultimate goal is a management position in IV therapy.

KelRN215, BSN, RN · Jun 20, 2013

I will keep this quick....
My long term nursing goal is to become an IV nurse. As in, working on an IV team in a large hospital where the job focuses on starting and maintaining IV's. As far as I know, I need to get my specific license for infusion nursing first (correct me if I am wrong) but will having a BSN be nessecary? I am really struggling to figure out if I wanna drop the clams on going back to school when I feel I would be perfectly happy working as and IV nurse and occasionally floating as a travel nurse.
Would it be worth it to get my BSN?

There is no such thing as a "license" for infusion nursing. What you are thinking of is a specialty certification and you are not even eligible to test for the certification until after you're already an experienced infusion nurse.

You don't need a BSN unless the hospital system you want to work for and/or your general area only hires or strongly prefers BSN. You say you want to work for a large hospital and the large hospitals, especially the academic ones, are definitely trending toward BSN. In my area, new ADN grads cannot find hospital jobs.

Preludemann · Jul 8, 2013

Quick answer nope. there are actually two different certifications in IV nursing. CRNI- which i think is more based on administration of meds/Chemo and policy - Test is quite difficult - The other IS VA-BC which is Vascular Access Board certified, which the test is less involved in medication but more relates to Vascular access and Vascular access devices,you need to have two years experience In IV therapy before you qualify for either. I have people, including my Assistant director who failed the CRNI exam. IF you wont be administering/Mixing chemo etc.. Go with VA-BC. I did and didn't even study for the exam. two websites for your reading http://www.avainfo.org and Welcome to INS1 - Infusion Nurses Society AVA is VA-BC and INS is CRNI. but BSN is never a bad idea anyway. cost of exams for certification are about the same ($500 )