Authors

  1. Alexander, Mary BS, CRNI

Article Content

FIGURE Last year, the National Student Nurses' Association's (NSNA) House of Delegates passed a resolution, "In Support of Instituting a Basic Intravenous Insertion and Therapy Curriculum in All Schools of Nursing." This important action calls for all nursing schools to make classroom instruction and clinical training in IV therapy an integral part of the curriculum. The timing could not be more appropriate. Today's nursing school undergraduates may one day be responsible for administering complex infusion treatments in a nursing home, a physician's office, or an ambulatory clinic. In the course of their practice, they will encounter rising numbers of patients who require intravenous therapy, dwindling use of IV teams and specialists, and increasingly sophisticated infusion technology. In today's healthcare world, all practicing nurses must be grounded in the fundamentals of IV therapy whether or not they elect to make it their specialty.

  
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We at INS applaud the NSNA resolution and resolve to do what we can to bring excellent infusion therapy education to tomorrow's nurses-as well as today's. This Special Focus Issue on Fundamentals of IV Nursing was conceived as a way of speaking to those who are relatively new to the specialty. In these pages, you will find discussion of issues that are fundamental to excellent infusion care: site preparation, device maintenance, management and prevention of complications, fluid balance, and developing institutional protocols. I hope these articles will be a valuable resource for those beginning their practice as infusion nurse specialists, as well as for generalist nurses and nurses in other specialties who look to the Journal of Intravenous Nursing for support and review of IV therapy skills. Experienced infusion nurse specialists can benefit, too, from being reminded of the foundations of their practice.

 

And as if that were not enough food for thought, this issue also marks the beginning of INS' "new year." Here we reflect on the accomplishments of the past 12 months in the 2000 Annual Report, the State of the Society, and the CEO's Report, and look forward to the future with our incoming president, Brenda Dugger, in her Presidential Address. This issue's special focus is strikingly concordant with the theme of the new presidency, "Creating a Global Community," which calls on INS members to strengthen the role of the infusion specialist through continuing education and professional development, as well as by reaching out beyond the specialty. As we widen our scope, we are helping to ensure the delivery of excellent infusion care by all nurses, to all patients, in all settings.

 

I hope you will benefit from this issue, either as an introduction, a review, or an enhancement of your practice. And I hope you will contribute your expertise to creating a global community for INS in the new century.