Is it normal that my school doesn't teach us IVs?

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  1. Is it normal not to learn IVs in nursing school?

    • 54
      Yes
    • 49
      No

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I just started nursing school and I've been told that we're not allowed to do IVs. Is this in all nursing schools or just mine? I'm worried that I won't be prepared when I get my first nursing job.

Most schools do not teach IV insertion for a variety of reasons. Just be happy they do not teach Foley insertion anymore.

I'm an LPN student and one of my classes this semester is IV therapy and I was taught how to insert a Foley my 1st semester then I inserted a few in clinicals. What are students taught then? Just how to give meds?

Don't worry about learning skills in nursing school. I know that is the fun part, and that is what you want to be doing in clinicals. But what a lot of new grads have to learn the hard way is you don't learn how to be a nurse in nursing school. You learn how to pass NCLEX... if you're lucky you get a basic idea of what has to happen next when things go wrong, and prioritize your tasks. We teach you how to be a nurse when you get your first job. You are going to be learning until you retire. Nearly everything I learned in nursing school 10 years ago is obsolete now. Just get through the program and get that degree. Once you have it no one can ever take it from you. Take Kaplan test prep before NCLEX (honestly I thought it would have been helpful before school started since all of our exams were NCLEX style). Don't turn down any learning opportunities in clinicals (I don't care if it is vital signs or bed making) and constantly ask your preceptors "what if this happens" learn to think ahead of the disease. The rest will fall together later.

And never stand when you can sit.

Specializes in Emergency Department.

Seriously, IV starts and the like are actually fairly basic monkey skills. The reason I call them that is because you can pretty much teach a monkey to do them, and do them well. It's just a psychomotor thing. I'm also a Paramedic in addition to being an RN. While doing things like endotracheal intubation, needle decompression, Peripheral IV insertion, Foley catheter insertion and the like are all fun and all (yes, I'm mixing skill sets), what's more important is knowing when and when NOT to do those things.

My program taught us things like foley insertion, IV insertion (4th semester), chest tube/pleurivac system maintenance, drug calculations, manual drips and pump use, and so on. They also spent a LOT of time preparing us for the NCLEX primarily by presenting us with NCLEX-type questions from about 1/2 way through 1st semester until graduation and teaching us the knowledge we'd need so that we could not only pass the NCLEX, but also have a good foundation for further learning on the job and afterward.

What sets an RN or a Paramedic apart from the lower level folks? Simple. The Knowledge to be able to think through a problem. The more knowledge you gain, the better you'll be able to think through problems and come up with your own plans about how to deal with them. Mid-Level and Physician providers aren't any "better" but they do have more knowledge that allows them to think through problems at a deeper/different level and come up with appropriate plans. Skills? Even for them it's psychomotor stuff... it can be learned by anyone. It's the knowledge component that allow you to know how/when to apply a given skill.

In summary, don't worry about "skills" because you can be taught those on the job. Your employer likely will put you through a skills course (in-house) so you can do things "their way" regardless of what you learned up to then or from whom. Concentrate on learning knowledge. Therein lies your worth to your patients.

Specializes in Vascular Access.
Seriously, IV starts and the like are actually fairly basic monkey skills. The reason I call them that is because you can pretty much teach a monkey to do them, and do them well. It's just a psychomotor thing.

If you are equating your placement of an IV catheter to a MONKEY, and saying that you both can place them with equal success, then I have a great fear for your patients. In addition, DO NOT ever come and attempt to place one in me...

Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
Seriously, IV starts and the like are actually fairly basic monkey skills. The reason I call them that is because you can pretty much teach a monkey to do them, and do them well.
I suppose the monkey is a tad bit sharper than me because I still struggle to start IV lines, draw blood and perform cannulation, even after a decade of being a nurse. I am simply not a hands-on person...
Specializes in PICU.

IV insertion is really not a nursing skill. Anyone can learn to insert an IV. The nurse needs to know how to assess the site, manage the site and assess and manage anything being inserted into the IV. As a nursing student you should worry more about is your IV site patent, can it be used for fluids, are the fluids compatible with my medications.

In many areas of nursing your patient may not even have an IV. Anyone can start an IV (i.e insert an IV) with training, a nurse can assess and manage the site

Specializes in Critical care.

Hospitals in my area have IV teams and only IV team nurses can place IVs. We talked about it in school though. I was also tested on priming an IV, setting up a drip on the pump and without a pump. I removed plenty of IVs in school.

As for catheters, we learned foley and straight cath with dummies. We had to demonstrate sterile field and talk through all the steps of inserting one. In clinical I never had the chance to insert a foley, but I did have a chance to straight cath during my womens rotation. I had to speak up and ask the nurse though, since she wasn't aware that I was allowed to do them.

The unit I work on doesn't insert many foleys, prn straight caths are much more common, but I get the chance to do enough to keep my skills up. I just inserted a foley in a patient the other day and really impressed my charge nurse who was helping to keep the patient still :sneaky:

I just graduated from an LPN program in Fl at a community college and we were barely taught medicines much less anything about IVs or catheters. If we want to be able to do IVs, that is a completely separate class and more money. For going through 11 months, I don't feel like we were taught very much or very well. Most people barely get passed the program. We started with 30 and graduated 18.

If you are equating your placement of an IV catheter to a MONKEY, and saying that you both can place them with equal success, then I have a great fear for your patients. In addition, DO NOT ever come and attempt to place one in me...

I think you completely missed his/her point and took it weirdly literal...

My school where I taught did not teach students Iv insertion but did teach foleys in second semester. Foley skills are needed, IV insertion is done in many facilities by the IV team in my city. Fake arms are not like real people anyway and neither are fake bottoms for practice on foleys. But better than when I went to school and we did stuff on each other. Not in this day of hiv and hepatitis.

No, IV's and Foley's are pretty standard nursing skills to learn. We learned Foley insertion when I was in LPN school, and again for my RN. You'll be doing those even in a clinic setting occasionally, IVs also. I'll admit when I worked inpatient there were only certain floors (ED, L&D and ICU) where the RN's started IV's. The rest of the time it was the Lab techs who would be paged out to do them. However, in a clinic or outpatient setting like where I work now, in Urgent Care, the RN's and LPN's are expected to know how to do them, and are put through training to be certified to do them. So, yeah it's a little weird they wouldn't be teaching you IV's or Foley's.

Specializes in PICU.

I do get the idea that IV insertion is a skill, but it is not necessarily important for nursing school. Hospitals, clinics, etc will have their own policy and procedure manual that dictates who can insert and how to do it. More importantly schools should be teaching good assessments, critical thinking, interpretation between results and clinical picture. IVs and foleys are great to learn as a student but does not make one a nurse

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