IV start skills necesary?

[irishgirl333]

I'm planning on applying for a 'detox RN' position at a drug and rehab inpatient treatment center which I am really excited about but I don't have any experience in that specialty yet. My prior physical rehab RN job rarely involved IVs so my skill lapsed. I really want to be prepared in case I get called for an interview. I imagine that people who are detoxing are dealing with dehydration but is this addressed with PO drugs or IVs? There is ONE class this fall term (two days in length) available for IV starts but it is almost $400 and I would rather not pay the money if I don't need the skill. I emailed the facility but haven't received a response and I don't want to bother them and ruin my chances at being interviewed. Thank you for any responses!

[MrChicagoRN, RN]

IV skills are easily relearnable.

When it comes up, tell them you haven't done it for a while (and then tell them truthfully how good you were).

I used to be very good, but haven't done one in 4-5 years. No reason I couldn't pick it up with a brief on the job refresher

.

[irishgirl333]

Well...that's the thing...I wish that I could tell them that I was very good at placing saline locks but I haven't started an IV in 8 years and THAT IV was when I first became a nurse. At that time we had IV nurses to call if we needed saline locks placed on the surgical floor. It was very rare on the physical rehab floor to have patients who needed IV fluids, if they did, we had the critical care nurse place the saline lock. It is a skill that I have really wanted to relearn BUT if I don't need it for drug and alcohol detox I don't want to take it for now. Mainly because I don't have the money right now. So, do detoxing clients require IV fluids for hydration etc?