Advanced Practice in Dialysis

Hello all,

I am a registered nurse with a BSN and within the next year or so I am really looking to continue my education. I am currently working in dialysis as an acute nephrology registered nurse and so far I love it. I love working with kidney patients and I want to continue to do so even as an advanced practice nurse. Are there any dialysis/renal/nephrology positions available for advanced practice nurses? If so what are they, and what would be the best master's program to pursue for these positions? Although I currently do dialysis, in the future I would love to especially work with renal transplant patients or maybe even work in home dialysis education/preparation programs. I am so unsure as to how to begin mapping/planning for advancement in this field any advice is appreciated. P.S I hope this post makes sense I am writing it after working a 10 hour shift on about 4 hours of sleep... Sorry and thanks again.

Hi and welcome!

I'm an APN in a large (14 MD and 5 mid-level) practice in central IL. Much of what we do is geared towards what CMS will reimburse us for. At the present time (as I'm sure you know), an MD must visit the chronic hemo pts once a month and then the other three times a mid-level (PA, NP, CNS) can visit and that is how we get reimbursed. In the hospital, since a physician must visit each pt (in pt nephrology pts, not necessarily dialysis pts), we are there to help with pt flow and do the initial note and the physician follows us. However, we can't bill for this type of service.

I will be very honest - I never thought I would end up here. My nursing background is strictly level one trauma center and ICU and I had only seen CVVH done and that was many years ago - lol!

However, I got this job because they liked my ER background and the fact that I dealt with emergencies and difficult patients well. I have 200 chronic hemo pts - 130 at an inner-city HDU and 70 at a more upscale unit.

As to which direction you should go, I would definitely vote FNP all the way. I'm an adult health CNS back in school for a peds CNS. Being able to see the full age spectrum is priceless.

As to being "too old" - well I'm 51 and in school! And that ain't young! lol I figure that I will be working until I'm 70 and as an APN, I will have more options.

Good luck...