Career Change Need Advise

priyaremi · Feb 25, 2016

Ihave been a nurse for 9 years, worked LTC, Med/surg, ICU, and most recently LTACH. An opportunity has opened up so that I may get to work for Fresinius as a dialysis nurse. I could finally get off night shift. Can any of you give me advise/ information about dialysis nursing or Fresenius? Thank you in advance.

Hi, I have nothing to add except that I am starting with Fresenius in Ireland next Monday. I am a new grad and have offers for med/surg, PDN and dialysis. I am nearly 40years old and decided that dialysis sounds immensely interesting and there are no Sunday or night shifts which mean that I can pick up agency shifts as I want for extra money.

I know it is a speciality area and they are paying me the exact same money as the hospital but I am very interested in all the co-morbidities that come with dialysis patients and having the ability to build rapport with them. They will come to the clinic 3-4 times per week and the max amount of patients that I will have is 4. However, USA clinics may be run differently. I was told that I will have 8 weeks training in class and on the floor and then I will have a mentor to work with and will build up to my four patients over time.

The hospital were offering me 4 days training as a new grad!!. I decided with the support that the clinic would give me starting out, I would accept the position. I am just worrying now about how to word an email to the hospital turning down the med surg position as I do not like to burn my bridges as I have signed a contract with them but have not started yet. Anyway, I have to do what is right for myself and my family!!

Good luck at your interview!. Let us know how you get on!. I am very happy with my choice.

nutella, MSN, RN · Feb 28, 2016

Ihave been a nurse for 9 years, worked LTC, Med/surg, ICU, and most recently LTACH. An opportunity has opened up so that I may get to work for Fresinius as a dialysis nurse. I could finally get off night shift. Can any of you give me advise/ information about dialysis nursing or Fresenius? Thank you in advance.

I have seen a bunch of nurses go to chronic dialysis and leave. It is not a low stress job and the pressure is huge for nurses. Not only are you going to run tx, string and clean up your machines - you will be responsible for all assessments and the whole boat load of meds...

To be honest - it would be best to shadow one of the nurses in that HD unit for at least half a day.

It is sort of hectic or nurses.

RexRN · Feb 28, 2016

How much training do they usually give? Time management and being busy is not a problem for me. I am used to 12 hrs shifts with maybe 1 break, and no lunch.

nutella, MSN, RN · Feb 28, 2016

How much training do they usually give? Time management and being busy is not a problem for me. I am used to 12 hrs shifts with maybe 1 break, and no lunch.

If you have never done dialysis it is usually in total months of training. Meaning you will be taught and also supervised for some while. Depending on which company there can be learning books and modules that outline the learning and progress.

I initially started with Davita for acute dialysis and got an excellent education and training all around! My preceptor was A+ and everybody was helpful and friendly - I trained in a busy hospital with large HD room and once more trained started to go to the critical care area. The training was very structured and I was successful. Dialysis is not for everybody though and I have seen people who could not get passed the initial weeks because they could not grasp the concepts or had problems with time management.

Fresenius does a different kind of orientation - they front load education in a different way - a lot of class room education and tests up front. Also very good - their education is great. I did not find their actual training as good but the hands on training really depends a lot on the clinic you are in, the pat population and so on and forth.

What I liked with Davita is that if a person did not seem to be capable, it was evident after few weeks and they would talk to the person about their progress and see if there would be something that could be done to help. With Fresenius with the education front loading people may not figure out if they are actually able to do the job for a while.

You should really shadow - if you have ICU experience you might want to look into acute dialysis as well...