dialysis nursing...i want to run fast and far away

[RN yogi]

hello all, i am a new nurse and 6 weeks into my training at an outpatient dialysis clinic. let's just training has been hell. the culture at the clinic is intolerable. i have worked in healthcare for almost ten years and i have never experienced coworkers being so disrespectful and down right mean to one another. my preceptor goes so quickly that i can't even learn. every patient i have seems to bleed all over the place after treatment or is so hypotensive that it is unsafe to let them leave. then i get reprimanded for not getting them out the door quickly enough. one morning, without notice, my preceptor told me that i was expected to prime the whole bay. she said there was no reason it should take me so long to prime 10 machines. she wrote on my weekly review last week that i lacked initiative. umm...i just busted my ass for two years to get an rn degree so i doubt it's that. regardless, instead of taking it personally i showed up every morning this week 15 minutes early to get a head start. the faster she pushes me the more i **** up and the worse and incompetent i feel. she is frustrated with me and i am equally as frustrated with her. i questioned whether or not a patient should be put on the machine today bc they were hypotensive and very close to their dry weight. she told the manager. she no longer wants to work with me and spoke with the manager. i spoke with the manager immediately afterwards and told her my side of the story. i have serious concerns about pt safety. i have worked so hard to get my license and i feel that my question re: pt safety are valid even if my preceptor has worked in the field a year longer than i have. she's a tech mind you and not an rn. i cried today for the first time ever at work. i am not a crier, but i can't take the speed i'm expected to perform at while ensuring patient safety. yesterday i was reprimanded by a tech for saying something to a patient that i never even spoke to. everyone seems to have an ego bigger than the room they occupy and tongues like daggers. at this point i'm thinking that i just want to put in applications elsewhere and get the heck out while the getting is good. i want to succeed, but i want to be happy more.

has anyone else had such experiences working dialysis? did you leave? would you stay?

[sammyjo24]

OMG you sound like me! Like JUST like me! Only I'm over 2 years in now. I started out in a situation that sounds so ridiculously similar to yours. The funny thing is now, I kind of appreciate the hard *ss tech who trained me. She was a good tech. Bad communicator. Horrible trainer. But what she said still sticks with me today.

I have left that facility and moved on to a better (somewhat) environment. I've worked for both of the big two. I'm going to try home hemo hopefully next. I'm getting frustrated with the whole scenario of staffing and drama and crappy people in general. I've come to realize, though, it's just part of the medical field.

I also did realize how much I respect my patients because they are miserable. All of them, but not all of them let it get to them. Some people click with other people. Other people click with totally different people. It takes all kinds to make a good team. Once you spend a year listening to their stories, you start to realized how petty all the other crap is. They go through H*LL and still come every other day.

I do it for them.

[RN yogi]

The dialysis center and I have parted ways. I wrote my resignation letter today after my second preceptor told me this morning that my work was unacceptable. Could be my fault, could be theirs. Either way I know in my heart that I tried my best.

[westieluv]

The dialysis center and I have parted ways. I wrote my resignation letter today after my second preceptor told me this morning that my work was unacceptable. Could be my fault, could be theirs. Either way I know in my heart that I tried my best.

That's all you can do. I wish you well and I'm glad you were able to leave a situation that was making you so miserable.

[FransBevy]

Chisca, GC!

You certainly called this one!

[ConfuseRN]

Hey ate u still working in dialysis? Do you ended up liking it? I'm a new hd nurse I'm having tough time due to confusing training time . I started April 4 then after 6 weeks I did basic training after that I was left as the only RN in the building with my LPN preceptor . My FA told me that for now the charge nurse is the LPN , they just need an RN in the building etc . My preceptor is LPN ,he's good he worked for dialysis for 10 years . My only concern is eventhough my fa said I'm not the charge nurse and will not be liable to anything since I'm new I'm still concern. I talked to her for 4 times no changes. She will just repeat what she said.

[five10fevr, ASN, RN]

ConfuseRN- As a FA myself, you are still considered the charge nurse as you are technically the only RN in the building. You also don't have the proper training to be the charge nurse. To be a charge nurse and to be left alone it takes approximately 6 months. 3 months give or take of proper training and 3 months of another RN in the building with you. This is CMS guidelines. Remember it is your RN license. Best of luck.

[ConfuseRN]

Thank you ! I actually hand out my resignation last week . I accepted a residency offer in the hospital nearby . My training been awful . Thank God the LPN that trained me was knowledgeable and has passion to train . Unfortunately, he too have to deal with stress situation . My FA had him as a charge nurse at the same time having a pod of four patients and anothe trainee which is a tech and then me as the only RN in the building . This is by the way started 7 weeks during my training . I was promised first doe 9-12 weeks of training which unfortunately didn't happen so that's why I'm leaving . I actually cried a lot the night I hand out my resignation because I couldn't believe the dream job that I dream about for long time will turn into nightmare .