Has anyone worked for Fresenius?

I've never worked for Fresenius. However, I work at a skilled nursing facility that sends the majority of their dialysis patients to Fresenius several times weekly for their HD treatments. Fresenius seems to have a decent reputation around this neck of the woods.

I haven't heard anything bad per se. I did check them out and declined the job.

Their turn over was very high - apparently they were hiring lots of nurses who wanted to fix their patients and did not understand that CRF patients are terminally ill and that dialysis is simply a palliative measure until they die or get a transplant. They told me that the nurses were having difficulty dealing with so many non compliant pts who were always dying on them instead of being fixed that the nurses kept quitting.

They were working their nurses to death, one nurse had worked 12 days in a row with no relief in site because of the short staffing. When I asked about weekends off, that clinic had been having the RNs work 4 out of 4 Saturdays a month due to staffing issues. They also frequently had to work more than 10 hour days to get all the pts completed. They had way more OT than I was interested in. And there was basically no calling in sick. The woman I interviewed with was the supervisor ro multiple clinic sites as well as the hands on manager for the site I interviewed for. She told me she had been begging corporate to let her hire agency for the clinics that were short but corporate had refused.

I also did not like that the RNs were basically there as tokens and that unlicensed personnel were actually responsible for accessing, de-accessing av grafts/HD caths. These same people were also the ones who pushed the heparin. Basically I was told that I would sit at the desk, do the required paperwork, and the techs would tell me if there was a problem. The techs were responsible for vs, all the machines, etc. All I could think of was that if you had a tech that didn't respond to abnormal vs quickly enough, my butt would be in a sling. I also didn't like the idea of techs pushing heparin and working with HD caths/grafts.

I guess I just don't trust people enough anymore. I know that these techs get the same training that the nurses get through the company. But other than that, these techs are not required to have nursing/medical backgrounds. I'd be more comfortable having an EMT working as an HD tech than joe-blow off the street when I am the RN "in charge".

I would be wary of working a HD unit in Texas. Not to say that there are some good ones, but from my experience as well as commentary I've heard from MANY chronic HD nurses it's not a good gig here in TX. One of the other posters hit the nail on the head, the techs run the show. However in TX it is ILLEGAL for a tech to access or DC a cath. They are allowed to monitor them, but that's it.

The heparin concern that others have expressed doesn't really concern me though as many facilities use pre-filled syringes and everyone is pretty much on the same dose so there's not a large margin for error. The newer machines also have the ability to be programmed for a certain patient, when you start the patients profile you confirm your prescription of course, but you also have the old settings as a double check. If you were to put in a heparin dose that was out of range, you'd have to be punching a bunch of override buttons to be able to continue the mistake.

I personally will not work in another HD facility here in TX until the STATE puts techs in their place. Now tech's don't get all upset because I think you're an invaluable resource. But the fact remains that certain companies have let the techs get out of hand with their attitudes and in most facilities the tech's run the sow. They are UAP's and don't put their asses on the line like a nurse does. As I said they're an invaluable resource, the chain of command must be realized and respected.

My brother worked for them as an RN in Florida. Angry that he resigned after five years of service they fired him on his last day of work to avoid paying him the 300+ hours in unused PTO that he had accrued. Long story short he ended up having to sue them (and won). Yeahhhh Baby !!

i don't know too much about FMC. i work for Davita (tech). no matter the company, it's all about the money, no longer about pt. care. and that makes me sad.
and at my clinic, the techs do NOT run the show. the charge nurse does. and she is awesome. : )

You are so very right about the money vs. pt. perspective of healthcare anymore.

It's great to hear you say your charge nurse is great! I hope she thinks you're great too...

I would have loved to have stayed in dialysis and know for a fact that I wouldn't have been able to be a good dialysis nurse without my whole team behind me. Maybe one of these days I'll give it a try again and hopefully I'll have a team with members like you no matter their title.

I have worked for Fresenius & Davita. I am currently at Davita full-time after working at Fresenius for 7 years. I still do some prn for Fresenius. I liked the insurance & 401k better at Fmc. Davita does not match any 401k contributions which really surprised me. Both companies have both good & bad clinics. It's the people who work there that make or break a clinic. I have been fortunate to have met & worked with some really great people in both companies. I also have had the experience of working in one horrible clinic that really opened my eyes to how some people just do not care about professionalism,respect, or about the patients. If a clinic is having alot of turnover in staff, then there is a real problem with how the clinic is being managed. The nurses are probably not getting the support they need in order to manage the treatment floor like it needs to be done. PCTs are truly invaluable, but there has to be a clear chain of responsibility & it does fall on the nurses license ( doesn't that put the pressure on!). Everyone must be held accountable for their actions.