Advancement and certifications in Dialysis nursing

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Hello All,

I am graduating nursing school in August. I am very interested in diabetes education and nephrology, this leads me to believe that dialysis might be a good fit for me. I am definitely not to proud to be trained by techs, and I enjoy developing relationships with people.This will be my second career and I would like to work in an area where I can get advancements, certifications, and good pay increased without having to bounce around from units/hospitals/facilities every few years. 
Do you feel dialysis is a good place to make a career/home? Is there advancements w/ pay increases that make you feel appreciated and that it’s worth the effort. Is continuing education valued in dialysis?

 

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

Yes I do think it's a great place to start and advance as you experience and education allow. Pay is NOT as good as in most hospitals, I will tell you that---- and pay raises are not great.

But I have been in the hospital and I don't want to go back!  You can be certified after 2 years/2000s hours' practice if memory serves. And you COULD go on the get your nurse practice education/degree and be a Nephrology NP, if you are inclined to go that direction.

I have found, people (nurses, not patients) either love or hate dialysis, not much in between. You should give it a try; at least where I am  there is a shortage of dialysis RNs and the dialysis-requiring population is expected to grow by around 300% within the next 3, 4 years so there will be a need for a long time to come.

If you have any more specific questions, feel free to ask; I will help if I can.

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Thank you for your wisdom!
The big thing that makes me worry about dialysis is having so many techs under my license, from what I have read it seems that centers have mostly techs with only a few nurses. I am not sure how that really plays out if the tech does something wrong and causes the patient harm. If the tech doesn’t secure the canalization property and the needle dislodges, ext…  I have read so many post where the dialysis techs are absolutely amazing but what about the one that isn’t? It seems in the hospital setting techs have much less responsibility for the technical side of patient care. 
Do you ever worry about your license with so many techs under you?

This could be a silly question, I have never worked in health care, just graduating nursing school and they really emphasize protecting your license…which makes it seem that someone else’s mistake could cost me my career. 

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
11 hours ago, nursemoon said:

Thank you for your wisdom!
The big thing that makes me worry about dialysis is having so many techs under my license, from what I have read it seems that centers have mostly techs with only a few nurses. I am not sure how that really plays out if the tech does something wrong and causes the patient harm. If the tech doesn’t secure the canalization property and the needle dislodges, ext…  I have read so many post where the dialysis techs are absolutely amazing but what about the one that isn’t? It seems in the hospital setting techs have much less responsibility for the technical side of patient care. 
Do you ever worry about your license with so many techs under you?

This could be a silly question, I have never worked in health care, just graduating nursing school and they really emphasize protecting your license…which makes it seem that someone else’s mistake could cost me my career. 

That is not a silly question. Do I worry? No I don't. But then, I have 10 years' dialysis experience and can do just about everything the techs can do. I made myself learn their job inside and out, and become an expert cannulator (putting needles in our patients for treatment) and that way, I can not only fill in as a tech if need be but I know well what they are supposed to be doing, and not.

As a new nurse, it's a challenge for sure. I would look at working in a larger clinic with at least one other nurse there with you, so you can learn from him or her and ask lots of questions.

It takes a solid year or more to be really comfortable. It's a complex specialty. But it has many rewards.

I advise getting to know your techs well, being willing to pitch in and help them. The more you are willing to do and the nicer you are, the more they will work with you and be willing to come to you when they see trouble. They are our eyes and ears; we need to respect and understand that.

Any more questions?

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Thank you for your help. I appreciate it. 

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
On 7/16/2021 at 7:52 PM, nursemoon said:

Thank you for your help. I appreciate it. 

You are welcome!

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