Infusion Nursing Standards of Practice

Welcome to the first column in a series addressing the 2006 Infusion Nursing Standards of Practice. I have used the Standards to guide my practice for many years. In the 1980s, I moved from critical care to homecare and was given a position to develop a home infusion therapy program. At that time, home infusion therapy was in its infancy, and there was relatively little literature to draw upon. I joined INS (at that time called the Intravenous Nursing Society), obtained a copy of the Standards, and used them as the foundation for developing our organization's policies and procedures. Little did I know that I would eventually have the exciting opportunity to work with INS and a group of expert clinicians in revising this important document. In this column, I will be providing a focused discussion on some of the Standards that have generated most of the questions from nurses. I will highlight some of the research references that were used to support the Standards and provide updated references as available. I welcome your feedback as we launch this new feature of the Journal of Infusion Nursing.