Name: Intravenous Therapy Nurse Description: Initiate, monitors, and terminates therapies including medications, antineoplastic agents, investigational drugs, blood products, and parenteral nutrition. Performs venous and arterial punctures, maintain the intravascular site including tubing and dressings, monitor for infections, initiate emergency therapies, assess patients for adverse reactions and complications, and document all patient-directed activities Diagnoses: Wide range of problems Practice roles: Staff nurse, clinical nurse, specialist, nurse manager Characteristics: Role autonomy and independence, patient care and relationships, teamwork, patient teaching, innovative thinking, technical mastery Client age group: All ages Drawbacks: Irregular schedules including 24-hour and on-call, bureaucracy, stress, pressure, excessive paperwork, policies Desirable skills: Medical-surgical experience including IV, phlebotomy, and venous access; independence and flexibility Education: RN with AD, Diploma, or BSN Employers: Hospitals, home health agencies, physician offices Certification: Intravenous Nurses Certification Corporation Two Brighton St. #200 Belmont, MA 02178 800-434-INCC Associations: Intravenous Nurses Society 220 Norwood Park South Norwood, MA 02062 781-440-9408 Publications: Journal of Intravenous Nursing   Newsline Newsletter 617-489-5250