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I don't think there are any legal requirements for certification provided you have the training and skills in IV insertion and chemotherapy. I would be very worried about administering chemotherapy at home without any experience. These medications are very toxic both to the patient and to you if you don't handle them properly.
odiecoffey
1 Post
Hello All, quick question. I am a new registered nurse who is presently working as an Intake Nurse for a MLTC company in New York City. I was recently asked by my company to do a home infusion case for a male patient who has prostate cancer. I was hesitant to say yes to since I wasn't sure if they wanted me to actually start the IV insertion or just hang meds. I have hung meds before, but never did an IV insertion. Also she wasn't sure what kind of meds, if they were chemo drugs, I don't have alot of experience with that as well.
One of question I wanted to find out is do I need an IV certification before I can start doing it?
I told them they should check policy because I believe you need an IV certification before inserting IV. I could be wrong , not sure. Also I was uncomfortable working with any chemo drugs since I don't have a lot of experience working with them and how to deal with side effects and such. I said if the port was there and it was "regular" medications and such, they were asking me to hang, I would feel more comfortable with that scenario.
Any advice and/ or answer to my questions will be much obliged!