National IV Nurse Day – January 25, 2025

History of National IV Nurse Day

National IV Nurse Day was established in 1980 by the United States House of Representatives to honor infusion nurses and their selfless dedication to their profession.
Infusion nurses, otherwise known as I.V. nurses, are nurses who manage almost all aspects of intravenous (I.V.) treatment for patients. They make sure that patients receive the appropriate I.V., as well as monitor how the patient responds to the treatment. I.V. nurses also handle the equipment used in treating patients, such as catheters and needles. They ensure that each piece of equipment is in place while the I.V. therapy is in progress.

I.V. nurses also keep watch of the patient’s vital signs to monitor how the patient responds to the treatment. This is done to prevent infection from developing at the site and to make sure that the patient does not suffer any adverse effects.

However, their work transcends clinical procedures and extends to offering education, comfort, and information to patients. I.V. nurses might chat and converse with patients to keep them calm and less nervous about the process.

Infusion therapy might seem like a modern discovery but, in fact, has been around since the 1700s. In Paris in 1667, a teenage boy received a blood transfusion from a lamb in order to save his life. The procedure was carried out by a physician called Jean Baptiste Denis, the physician to King Louis XIV. Prior to this, a blood transfusion had been administered to an animal near death, with blood from another animal.

1900 marked another watershed moment in the history of I.V. therapy when Karl Landsteiner developed a theory and proved that human blood could be categorized into four groups: A, B, AB, and O classifications, which are still used today.

All in all, I.V. nurses need to be celebrated for their often overlooked job. Without them, modern medicine would be vastly different from what it is today.