Every year on January 25th, Shield HealthCare is honored to celebrate IV Nurse Day. IV Nurse Day means a great deal to the many infusion nurses who have dedicated their lives to providing quality patient care. Infusion treatment is needed with 90% or more of all hospitalized patients, and IV nurses have unique experience, skills and knowledge in the highly specialized field of infusion. We are delighted to honor IV nurses as a highly valuable asset to the nursing profession.
The United States House of Representatives first recognized and nationalized IV Nurse Day in 1981. Here is the declaration as presented by the Honorable Edward J. Markey from the Fifth Congressional District of Massachusetts before the House of Representatives on October 1st, 1980:
“Mr. Speaker: A vital branch of our nation’s nursing profession is emerging as an important specialty. Recognition is long overdue for the nurses who practice intravenous therapy which includes such diverse and valuable medical technology as hyperalimentation and chemotherapy. Just seven years ago, in the state of Massachusetts, a charitable corporation, the National Intravenous Therapy Association, was established to promote the education of nurses in this field. In recognition of the contributions of intravenous nurses in the state of Massachusetts and across the nation, I would like to have the following statement included in the Congressional Record:
WHEREAS, the two founders, Ada Plumer, R.N., from the Massachusetts General Hospital and Marguerite Knight, R.N., from Johns Hopkins Hospital met with a small group of intravenous nurses on January 25, 1973, in Baltimore, Maryland, for the purpose of organizing a professional association for the registered nurse practicing intravenous therapy, and WHEREAS, the National Intravenous Therapy Association, a non-profit specialty association dedicated to providing quality intravenous care to the patient through educating those associated with protecting the nursing specialty of I.V. Therapy, and WHEREAS, in recognition of the implication of intravenous therapy to the patient and the need to exchange professional information and provide for continuing education, the National Intravenous Therapy Association evolved and was incorporated in Maryland, and WHEREAS, the objectives of the National Intravenous Therapy Association are to: 1) provide the benefits and protection of a qualified I.V. nurse to the patient, to the institution which he/she serves and to the profession of nursing, 2) encourage a high quality of professional practice through the establishment of standards in I.V. therapy, and 3) disseminate knowledge by providing for interchange of information among its members and members of allied specialties and professions, and WHEREAS, the aim of the National Intravenous Therapy Association is to provide the highest quality of intravenous care to all patients requiring I.V. therapy and to continually educate those professionals involved in intravenous therapy, and WHEREAS, the philosophy of the National Intravenous Therapy Association, a specialty nursing association, promotes the clinical practice of I.V. therapy by a registered nurse who has expertise in aptitude, skill and knowledge in the delivery, execution and accountability of intravenous therapy as an autonomous phase of nursing. NITA further promotes the basic understanding of and responsibility to the nursing needs of the patient as a whole and an interdependence with the intravenous nurse and all health professionals, and WHEREAS, at the present time, NITA has a membership of just over 1850 and has grown 45% in the last twelve months. At this time, there are 26 local active chapters of NITA in almost every geographical area of the United States, and WHEREAS, the goals of NITA are to standardize intravenous nursing practice to certify those practicing, to continually educate and to implement cost justified I.V. nursing teams in all health care facilities involved with I.V. therapy, thus protecting and providing quality I.V. care owed to all patients in need of that care, and REESOLVED, that I.V. Nurse Day be nationally celebrated in honor of the National Intravenous Therapy Association, Inc., on January 25 of each year.”
For the full text of the official announcement, and for more information about infusion nursing as a specialty, visit the Infusion Nurses Society website.
On behalf of Shield HealthCare, we would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all IV nurses for their dedication to the best possible patient care.
