How to Become an IV Certified Student Nurse

You need to be IV certified to work with intravenous drips.

If you've recently graduated as a licensed vocational nurse, a registered nurse or a radiological technician and are keen to make yourself more attractive to potential employers, it's a good idea to sign up for an intravenous certification course. Once you've completed an accredited course, you'll be qualified to fit IV venipuncture devices and prepare IV fluid infusions for administration to patients. IV courses are usually short, relatively inexpensive and involve a certain degree of self-study.

Things You'll Need

• Nursing license

Instructions

1. Contact your state's nursing board or association to ask for details of institutions offering accredited IV certification courses in your area. You can also find a list of accredited providers on the American Nurses Credentialing Center website.

2. Select an institution that offers an accredited IV certification and apply for a course. You'll need to provide your nursing license to support your application.

3. Complete the course and carry out the required procedures on blood simulation mannequins to become fully certified. The length of IV certification courses varies depending on the provider you use, what part of the country you're studying in and what nursing qualifications you already have, but generally do not exceed 40 hours of study time. Many courses are much shorter than this. You'll be required to study anatomy of the circulatory system, IV venipuncture devices, IV site selection, infection and allergy control and possible complications. To successfully complete a course, you'll be asked to prepare and administer IV infusions to mannequins. When you finish your studies, you'll be qualified to prepare and fit IV treatments in a live clinical environment. Once you have your certificate, you do not need to renew it, but most accrediting bodies recommend that any nurse who leaves the profession for an extended period of time take an IV refresher course.

References

• Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians: Vocational Nurse IV Therapy Certification Course Provider List
• AANE Consultants: IV Certification
• Education Portal: IV Certification and Certificate Programs
• UMDNJ School of Nursing: IV Therapy Certification Course
• UMDNJ School of Nursing: Introduction to IV Therapy

Resources

• American Nurses Credentialing Center: Find an Accredited Organization