Abstract
Providing education for intravenous therapy without offering redundant courses is a concern for staff development educators. The consortium approach maximizes resources, provides a standard and consistent level of intravenous training, and provides a cost-effective remedy. Problems, solutions, and benefits to students, educators, and hospitals are described in this article. Emergent issues are also discussed.
Changes in the job market coupled with increasing staff mobility resulted in many area hospitals teaching an intravenous therapy course to nurses who had previous intravenous training. Not only was the intravenous therapy credentialing process expensive in terms of time and money for all involved, but also it failed to acknowledge some of the basic principles of adult learning as popularized by Malcolm Knowles (Knowles, 1970).
The Consortium of New Jersey Nurse Educators (CNJNE) was formed in 1987 to explore the feasibility of sharing a common intravenous program among hospitals. It was reasoned that the existence of a shared course would reduce the burden on each hospital, the educators, and the orientee as a nurse moved from one local hospital to another. In addition, a shared course would provide a standard and consistent level of intravenous training for all users and would comply with adult learning principles.