Effective practice in community iv therapy.

The government has policies for care in the community, reducing acute admissions and length of hospital stays and greater patient choice (Department of Health (DH) 2002; DH, 2006) but the NHS has no overall strategy for community intravenous (IV) therapy. Despite this, community IV therapy is expanding to cover a wider range of medication and therapies. While this enables community nurses to extend their skills it can also present many challenges. Carrying out this form of treatment in the community requires comprehensive organization and multidisciplinary working. This article aims to cover the key aspects that need to be in place to ensure that community IV therapy is safe, appropriate and manageable and that infection control is maintained.