Mandolyn

Phlebitis should be recorded every time it occurs. Any signs of redness, paing, swelling or hard veins should be reported and charted. You must note when you noticed it, which vein, which arm and what you did about it. Phlebitis happens for 3 main reasons... chemical...which is that substance infusing is too irritating bacterial....which is that the site wasn't properly cleaned prior to insertion or that there was a contaminate in the fluid or somewhere else along the way mechanical...which is that one might have been to rough with insertion. Hope this helps at all

There are definately places to go and only insert IVs all day. I did one of my IV training courses through a place that only does IV's. The instructor was an RN who runs an IV team that is on call to go insert IV's and PICC lines at various hospitals and nursing homes. I know that they are hiring now but it is here in Washington...I do not know where you live. I also worked in a Naturopathic clinic and only did IV's all day as someone else mentioned above. We did nutritional IVs and Chelation IVs and had a large IV room with 2 workers doing nothing but IVs. We mixed and prepared the IV's, inserted and then monitored patients through out their treatment. As more states are allowing Naturopaths to do IVs, there is a demand for RNs that are capable and willing. You could also look up the INS website and look into being nationally certified as an IV nurse and I am sure that would open up other doors for you if that is your main interest. It is a skill that needed and some would prefer to leave IV placement to those who specialize in that. Good luck to you.

SG, I have no idea how those nurses are able to not penetrate through the vein by doing it that way. No one should be advancing the entire length of the needle into the vein. That was the textbook way when you went through it and that is the textbook standard now. The needle is only to gain access to the vein, then the catheter is advanced and the needle is removed. It is very risky to do it any other way.

Jen, Chelation is definately not something to take lightly. It can be good or it can be dangerous depending on the protocol of how it is done and who is overseeing it. It should be very customized to the patient and the patient should be constantly monitored, including blood tests to make sure there creatinine levels are where they should be. They also need to be getting a very good mineral replacement intravenously in between sessions of Chelation. It is something I am not fully sure about myself. I have similar reservations as you do.

The day in a life of Holistic nursing? It will really vary on where you decide to work. I have worked with many Naturopaths and MD's that do Holistic care and they do different things. The last place I worked was a large Naturopathic clinic with 4 ND's and 3 MD's on board. Each Doctor had their own Assistant, which could be an LPN or Medical Assistant. I was one of these at one point. My doctor saw 4-6 patients per day. I did very little in the check in part. Simple vitals and that was all. The rest of my day was spent answering phones, taking down messages, attaching them to the patient chart, handing the chart to the doctor, receiving and relaying the reply. Once in a while I would give a B12 injection. The doctor would basically interview the patient and give a list of recommended supplements. I later did other things in the clinic as my education expanded and I performed various tests, such as Heidelberg, BTA, BIA, Cavitat and EAV. I also started working in the IV therapy department, which was a huge area devoted only to IV's with a team only doing work related to IV's. The place I am at now has only 2 doctors, both ND's and they are busy! My doctor sees about 25 patients per day and is very hands on and uses me a lot. She does a lot of muscle testing, emotional release therapy, NAET and more. She also does typical medical practices such as full physical exams including Paps and has me helping with many things such as cultures, strep tests, UA's, blood draws, Ultrasound, Interferential, foot baths and IV therapy. So, there are many options out there and no two clinics will be exactly the same in regards to how they utilize you.

I have been looking into more holistic education myself, this is what I have found. Everglades University in Florida offers a Bachelor of Science degree in Alternative Medicine, that is the one I am interested in the most. It is offered online as well, which is helpful for us working parents. There is also a place called Clayton College of Natural Health, they offer online options as well in Baachelor of Sciences in; natural health, Holistic Nutrition, and Masters and Doctor degrees as well. They are not costly and you can pretty much work at your own pace. I am not too sure how there accredidation is though. It is something to look into. I have asked them and they have assured me it is valid, but I do not know enough about it. A naturopath I work with is on the Admissions board at Bastyr University, she says things need to be accredited throught the US board of edu. Bastyr is another place to check out, although they do not offer online. You can get a degree or certificate in many areas of holistic care, such as dieticin, nutritionist, ND or Oriental Medicine. There is also a college in Oregon, which is where I went for certification in Parental Nutritional IV therapy. Hope this is helpful. Good luck to you!

I do not know with certainty. I would be interested in seeing it written down somewhere in text that it does or doesn't but I have always been told that it does, so we are not to mark the bag with a Marker. We mark a label and apply the label to the bag.

I too am sorry to hear about your recent diagnosis. There are many alternative therapies out there. I am not in a place to recommend one since I am not a doctor but one thing I have worked with and read a lot about is the role of Vitamin C in helping with cancer. Some places are doing IV vitamin C along with oral doses. Some places do something called insulin potentiated chemotherapy where they use a very low dose of chemo and supposedly direct it to the cancer cells with insulin. Again, I do not know if these are good therapies or the outcomes of those who have done them, I just know of their existance. After establishing a good oncologist, you could go to a naturopath as well to get a good nutrional support for what you are going through.

I think it is good to explore your options in holistic care. There are many positions for a nurse in holistic care. Holistic clinics need nurses too. You don't necessarily have to be holistic certified. I actually do not know of a school providing certification in holistic nursing. I live and work in Washington state and the naturopathic school here is Bastyr University, there is also a college of naturopathic medicine in Oregon but again, I do not think they have cerificates in holistic nursing. I could be wrong. One thing going on that would utilize a nurses skills is the expanding role of naturopaths to use the modality of IV therapy. If more NDs are going to be doing IV therapy, the more they will require nurses in their practice. IV therapy would only include natural vitamins and minerals and amino acids so you wouldn't be doing medications. It is a wonderful modality for increasing ones health, especially if there are digestive problems going on. You could also go into nutrition. You could become a certified holistic nutritionist and be one of the practitioners in a naturopathic clinic. Nutrition is a huge part of holistic health. Hope this is helpful....good luck to you.

I don't know what answers you got but there is definately a lot of information online. There is a lot of conflicting information online as well. What you are talking about would be a Bionic Hydrotherapy or Detox footbath. It works with positive and negative charged ions that pull toxins out of your body through the bottom of your feet. Toxins are stored at many different areas of your body and sometimes, depending on which machine you are using, you can tell which areas they are pulling from according to the colors coming out into the water. Yes, you can pull good minerals out as well. You want 48 hours in between soaks and you want to drink an electrolyte drink while soaking, plus making sure you are taking a good multi-mineral. I know of a patient that wound up with kidney stones due to soaking 2-3 times a day. Hope this helps.

I agree. If you have the chance to take the certification course, you should. I also agree that the hospital demanding it should pay for it. I also thought that RN's automatically went through IV certification as part of their education. Is this dependant on area? Anyone doing IV therapy should have special training in the area, which would mean you are certified in the field. There is a lot of risks involved with performing IV therapy. It is not to be taken lightly. If someone can draw blood with a butterfly it doesn't make them able to insert a catheter. A catheter is tougher and again, comes with more risk.

I think a PICC nurse should have specialty pay. Inserting a PICC line is no average nurse task. It requires special education and special skill. If you are able to do what other nurses around you can not....you should get paid more. That is my opinion and I am not a PICC nurse.

I think it is good to talk to the instructor about it. One swipe of alchol really isn't going to do anything. It isn't really the alcohol that is cleaning as much as it is the scrubbing of the skin. You need to scrub starting at the insertion site and in a circular motion going outward. You are then to let the alcohol dry for a minimum of 30 seconds but I think the INS standard is a minute. They must definately not be touching the catheters...only the section they are suppose to hold.