IV nurses have embraced innovation in the pandemic

The past 10 months have been a learning curve for all health professionals, and this has been especially true for those of us working in intravenous (IV) therapy and vascular access. Our specialist teams and services have come into their own during the pandemic, providing reliable vascular access for COVID-19 patients in all care settings, supporting critical care with device insertion and providing a vital service for patients with difficult IV access.

It has been a difficult journey for nurses as a whole—and those who work in critical care have been indispensable and in short supply. Nurses who have found themselves redeployed to clinical areas outside their comfort zone or who have returned to clinical practice have done an admirable job in facing the challenges, some of which have involved regaining confidence in the administration of IV therapy and in performing venepuncture and cannulation. Providing IV updates and refresher training has, I am sure, kept you all very busy. E-learning and virtual training has been a revelation and an invaluable tool—and I am sure that the use of these new approaches will continue to become more widespread.