Have any of you worked on a dialysis cruise? I'm considering doing it for a little while just for fun.
It sounds too good to be true so I want to know what is the pay like or do we even get paid? How are the working conditions? What are the hours? Do they work you around the clock or can you actually have some down time?
I've read posts where people talked to people who worked on cruises, but I would be interested in hearing from anyone who has actually done it.
I have gone on 7 dialysis cruises and they were all worth it.
First of all I only worked 3 days out of the 7 days. We are always out at sea when we do the treatments, never in port - so you don't miss out on any of the fun.
We started our day at 5 am and I would be poolside no later than 10:30 am!! The best way to do things is to get all your "stuff" ready the night before.
You don't receive pay, but a free cruise. Also, don't let the cruise company tell you that they have to purchase the airline tickets for you. You can go online and find cheaper flights then they offer. I have flown round trip for less than $100. I would go to the city of departure the day before the cruise is scheduled to sail, so I would be there already. I always go with a familiar coworker and we share the room cost. (I got away with this by faxing my ticket info to the coordinator at the dialysis cruise company). They just want to make sure you will be there.
As far as taking your family, mine went with me 3 of the 7 times and it was 80% off the fare.
We used to use the old Baxter 1550's and now they have the Fresenius K machines!!! a lot nicer.
The patients I have had were all very nice and interesting to meet from all over the country. I would have a staff/patient meeting the first night on the ship in the library area to introduce ourselves and see who they are and to answer their questions. Tell them to bring their meds with them at this meeting so they are not forgot the next morning for their treatments.
I was wondering about how nurses are hired in relation to their experience, education, etc. What is scarey as one posted mentioned is that if you are not familiar with a particular machine that is used it could be life=threatening instead of life-saving for a patient. Also, I would think, being out at sea, one would have to be pretty darn experienced to handle an emergency situation as you could not call 911 to take someone to the acute facility. RenalRuth
When you sign the contract with the dialysis at sea company, you are disclosing you are familiar with the machines that are used on the cruise ships. I can not believe a nurse would take the risk of going on a cruise and not know the machine that is being used - you are still working under your RN license and you have to show proof that you carry malpractice insurance too.
As for emergency situations - these patients are generally well. The RN in charge gets medical records of all the patients, so you have a good idea of what you are dealing with. There is a nephrologist on board with you also. The patients are dialyzed in the infirmary and there is a ship doctor on board. If anything goes wrong with the patient - even as little as an elevated temp, they are air lifted off the ship to the nearest port to the hospital, so you basically can call 911 - you just have to call the ship's captain for a medical helicoptor. The patients are aware that if they become sick for "any" reason, their trip is done. I had to air lift only 1 patient so far for a temp.
One time I had a patient come for their first treatment on board, and their catheter fell apart in the other RN's hands! The end of the lumen/hub fell off. The nephrologist and I was able to fix it with the supplies on board. Our other choice was to place a femoral line in the patient. We are stocked with a lot of various supplies to handle different situations, but on this trip we did not have the tesio catheter repair kits, so we used the end off of a femoral line and basically super glued it to the tesio catheter.
The patient stayed on the board for the entire trip and was given strict instructions to have the catheter replaced as soon as they returned home.
Tish88
284 Posts
I have gone on 7 dialysis cruises and they were all worth it.
First of all I only worked 3 days out of the 7 days. We are always out at sea when we do the treatments, never in port - so you don't miss out on any of the fun.
We started our day at 5 am and I would be poolside no later than 10:30 am!! The best way to do things is to get all your "stuff" ready the night before.
You don't receive pay, but a free cruise. Also, don't let the cruise company tell you that they have to purchase the airline tickets for you. You can go online and find cheaper flights then they offer. I have flown round trip for less than $100. I would go to the city of departure the day before the cruise is scheduled to sail, so I would be there already. I always go with a familiar coworker and we share the room cost. (I got away with this by faxing my ticket info to the coordinator at the dialysis cruise company). They just want to make sure you will be there.
As far as taking your family, mine went with me 3 of the 7 times and it was 80% off the fare.
We used to use the old Baxter 1550's and now they have the Fresenius K machines!!! a lot nicer.
The patients I have had were all very nice and interesting to meet from all over the country. I would have a staff/patient meeting the first night on the ship in the library area to introduce ourselves and see who they are and to answer their questions. Tell them to bring their meds with them at this meeting so they are not forgot the next morning for their treatments.
Give it a try! You won't regret it!!!