Urgent: Need IV Certification for RN in Bay Area

[LizzerRN]

Hi guys, long time lurker here, first question posting today. I recently moved my whole life from the Detroit area to the west coast in sept 2017 and am finding that things are indeed different here. So... I am DESPERATE to find an IV/infusion certification for RNs in san francisco. I live in the city but the closest i could find is SAN DIEGO. Maybe some people think that driving 8 hours is normal for this sort of thing; I would not have considered driving to the upper peninsula of MI for a certification... I live in relatively large metropolis. The last time this question appears to have been answered is 2008 and all the links are DEAD. Please please help me with this question because I need it to get this home care position I REALLY want; I have been unemployed for nearly 5 months. Please help!

PS when i was in MI no one cared if i had IV skills; they are my weakest aspect and i always hated that. If they had offered such an official thing in MI i would have happily taken this class bc I always felt handicapped by poor IV skills. They don't teach IV much in nursing school and don't encourage us to practice as all the local hospitals have specialty IV teams that (unless the RN is super good at them and has time) do ALL of the IV's and they discourage RNs from doing it themselves to save time.

[RN_17]

Which "IV/infusion certification for RNs" class in San Diego did you find out? (I need one in SD)

[caliotter3]

LVNs who take the IV certification course have IV cert and blood withdrawal (if acquired) placed on their license once the Board received the documentation from the school at the end of the course. RNs take the IV certification course for the refresher/practice. IV therapy is within the RN scope and is supposed to be introduced in nursing school. Everyone gets proficient by using it on their jobs.

[RNlkb]

There are tons of IV certification classes in the Bay Area. For LVN's. As an RN, you're free to take them too. Many do.

Just google "LVN IV certification"

[Ambersmom, BSN, RN]

If I were in your position, I'd hop on the next Southwest flight to SoCal and get it done. Say it costs $1,000 or so... money well spent if it lands you a job, especially in high-cost SF bay area where it's easy to become homeless.

adding and those skills will carry over into ANY other job you consider. Best of luck!

[student_B, ADN, RN]

LVNs who take the IV certification course have IV cert and blood withdrawal (if acquired) placed on their license once the Board received the documentation from the school at the end of the course. RNs take the IV certification course for the refresher/practice. IV therapy is within the RN scope and is supposed to be introduced in nursing school. Everyone gets proficient by using it on their jobs.

Just wanted to add that my ADN-RN program states that "initiating IV therapy is not part of undergraduate nursing curriculum" and that the professors said we'd be taught this during orientation when we start working at a hospital. That does seem to leave a gap for those not going into hospital nursing. However, we did thoroughly learn IV maintenance, fluid incompatibilities, calculating and measuring drip rates, how to d/c an IV, etc. Just not initiation of IV.

I agree with others that learning this skill will very likely pay for itself. Hope you can find a class nearby! Have you looked into an online-only certification course or is it required to be in-person?

[beekee]

I didn't learn IV skills in nursing school either. As luck would have it, my employer has a team that does all IVs, but before I got this job I looked to find a class. I found an EMT course that dealt with it. I never took it, but I thought I'd throw the idea out there. You may be able to find something through a community college (for credit or continuing education).

[bgxyrnf, MSN, RN]

Have you looked into an online-only certification course or is it required to be in-person?

I sincerely hope that there is no such thing as an online-only IV certification course.

[wyosamRN]

I sincerely hope that there is no such thing as an online-only IV certification course.

You'd be amazed. I took a class on interpersonal communication online. There was no discussion, no interaction, and the instructor was horrible at answering emails. Read the book, take the quizzes. It seems like just recognizing how ridiculous it was should have earned an A.