IV Infusion Nurse Career Overview

Are you exploring an infusion nursing career? IV infusion nurses practice infusion therapy, administering intravenous fluids and medications. Their job titles may include IV nurse, IV therapy nurse, chemotherapy infusion nurse, and oncology infusion nurse.

Benefits of the profession include flexibility and the ability to work in a variety of settings, including home healthcare, hospitals, long-term care facilities, and private practice.

IV infusion nurses work as part of collaborative teams of healthcare professionals providing treatment that must be administered by intravenous methods. They provide IV infusions to patient populations across all age groups with a focus on improving patient outcomes.

Responsibilities and duties of IV infusion nurses include:

Workplace settings for IV infusion nurses include outpatient pharmacies and surgical centers, infusion centers, and patient homes, along with specialty clinics and hospital units.

Like any career, IV infusion nursing work comes with benefits and drawbacks. For this profession however, the pros seem to outweigh the cons.

Becoming an IV infusion nurse involves four steps: earning a nursing degree, obtaining an RN license, logging work experience, and pursuing certification.

PayScale lists the average annual salary for IV infusion nurses as $71,570. However, readers should be advised that only a low number of infusion nurses reported salaries.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that RNs in general earn a median annual salary of $75,330.

Infusion nurse salaries can vary according to geographical location, certification, education level, and work setting. For example, California RNs earn the highest salaries nationwide and travel infusion nurses may make more than other categories of infusion nurses.

Because infusion nursing schedules tend to follow a traditional work week, with weekends and holidays off, and some positions offer scheduling flexibility, infusion nursing tends to be less stressful than other nursing specialties. Nurses often transition to infusion nursing roles after working in high-intensity environments, such as emergency and acute care.

The CRNI examination comprises 140 multiple-choice questions that test examinees’ recall of information to solve problems or address situations. Questions cover three core areas: 36 questions each on principles of practice and access devices, and 48 questions about infusion therapies.

IV Infusion nurses can gain experience in specialties where nurses administer intravenous medications, treatments, and fluids, including emergency nursing, intensive care, oncology , pediatrics, and surgery. In these and other settings, like long-term care and medical day spas, nurses can master their IV insertion and infusion therapy skills.

Nurses use IV therapy within a large spectrum of treatments, such as those involving blood transfusions, types of cancers treatable with chemotherapy, ailments requiring antibiotics, and conditions eased with electrolyte or vitamin infusions.