Dialysis Interview

OK, I'm not sure what province you are in so, I'll go by what I know about AB's hiring process.

How long is the training and buddied orientation? They should bring this up during the course of the interview. Out here the training lecture portion runs for about six weeks (education, how to string lines, tear down, meds, etc). Then they used to offer a whole five buddied shifts and then you were on your own. Ask about the buddied shifts because working under the supervision of an experienced nurse and then getting cut loose on your own are two very different things.

Know your scope of practice and research any additional activities covered by the dialysis education. How often will IV pushed meds be required on your unit? (Only an RN can push in AB, while a LPN could get around it by administering the same drug subQ).

Outpatient, so your patients are chronic (and can have quite challenging personalities). How often do patients get a transplant? How do they handle change? Because you will be asked questions along the lines of "if a patient refuses to let you access their graft/fistula/cvc because you are new, how will you handle it?)

How many service aides are on the unit? How many machines will you be required to ready and strip? Does the unit pay OT or do they expect you to come in early to get your machines ready.

I've heard our Dialysis program loses about 50% of all the nurses they take on training (both RN and LPN), so if you decide dialysis isn't what you thought it would be like, can you return to your old job?

It's terribly routine, carpal tunnel is a real job hazard, and perfectionists (aka nitpickers) love working there.

Otherwise good luck.

Wow, thanks so much....very good info! I'm not sure what my scope of employment would be. I don't think I'll be initiating dialysis. There are 9 machines and I believe 2-3 RN's and one LPN per shift. The hours are 8-5 mon to friday. Good questions to ask though. I'm in Nova Scotia and currently working casual on a very busy med-surge unit. The dialysis unit is in the same hospital and is a .5 position, so I could go back to casual (which is basically full time) if I don't like dialysis.

:)

You need to check on this because out here LPNs cannulate. Who does Saturdays? Patients usually dialyize MWF or TTHSat.

Are they planning on using you as a service aide, setting up and stripping machines?