Opinions Needed - Mobile Acute Dialysis

[mobileacutes]

a nurse with years of experience has recently approached me about opening our own mobile acute dialysis unit. i'm on the verge of saying yes, and i just want to get some opinions from other nurses.

1. she says we can expect to pay $30-35/hour, for dialysis nurses. i'd like to know what you think about that figure

2. with the nursing shortage, how many nurses would be interested in 'moonlighting' with a smaller agency? and what factors would influence your decision?

3. what are some of the things you think agencies are doing wrong, so we can try to avoid those mistakes

4. what makes a good experience working for an agency

5. for nurses that already do agency work, how many of you get sent to chronic clinics?

and any other input that you have would be greatly appreciated.

thanks

[vortex72]

This sounds like a very interesting business.

I am an acute dialysis nurse currently working for the 2nd largest dialysis company in the world. I take call for a small hospital and I'm paid per treatment vs hourly. The compensation is exceptional. On average, I make a flat rate of 40+ bucks/hour including my bedsides and on-call pay. This is with full benefits. So, depending on the market you are in, I'd say the pay you are talking about is "ok"

Chronic clinics are out of the question for most acute nurses. Most of us have "done our time" in those places and have NO desire to go back. I have critical care experience so I will stay in the acute setting. I'd rather go back to ICU nursing than work chronic. I'm sure you could find nurses that were willing to float to chronic but you'd have to pay them well!

Moonlighting is fine if you are going to pay well. Most nurses can make more working overtime for their current employer vs working extra hours for an agency. So what you'll need to do is offer considerably more than nurses could make in overtime or find nurses who cant get o/t in their current job.

I have some questions for you. I'm currently putting back quite a bit of money at my current job and I'm interested in my own business in the future. How are you going about having your own "mobile acute dialysis" Are you simply provided supplemental staff for the acute programs in your area or are you actually running a full fledged dialysis company with machines and everything?