is dialysis less stressful than med surg

Specialties Urology

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I am an rn who graduated 5 months ago and recently left a job in med surg to go into dialysis. Mainly it was because i was hired for nights and couldn't do it anymore. I got hired at a davita clinic and I think i might like it alot more than med surg. I really wasn't happy doing the whole med surg thing. The hours are better and the pay is a bit better too. It seems to be less stressful or am i in for a rude awakeing.

Specializes in LTC, FP office, Med/Surg, ICU, Dialysis.
I agree with the exception of the "footwork" in chronics. I worked open heart/trauma and burns for over 20 years and find I am stagnating in chronics. I feel more that I'm running an assembly line rather than actually utilizing what I have to offer. More tunnel vision that any other area I have worked. I value my assessments skills and realize not everything is due to "low b/p" or "they just need thier tx".

Lacie, I have to agree with what you mentioned. Dialysis can definitely get busy especially during turnovers but nothing compared with a typical med surg floor. If my colleagues just go out and do a part time in M/S, they will appreciate more of the down time they have in dialysis.

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Specializes in home health.

Hi thread I'm from Colombia . I'm working for davita in NC . I feel so bad my job is very stressfull and dealing with PCT is terrible, I know at the hospital patient ratio is 1:1. I dont Know sometimes I think PCT acttitudes is becouse I'm foreign Nurse , my accent....

I like my ptes I enjoy spent time with them .

:specs:

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Specializes in Hemodialysis, Home Health.
Hi thread I'm from Colombia . I'm working for davita in NC . I feel so bad my job is very stressfull and dealing with PCT is terrible, I know at the hospital patient ratio is 1:1. I dont Know sometimes I think PCT acttitudes is becouse I'm foreign Nurse , my accent....

I like my ptes I enjoy spent time with them .

:specs:

Hello, Elizatru ! And WELCOME to Allnurses ! :clrflwlcm:

YES, outpatient dialysis IS stressful, hectic, and chaotic at times. And the big "companies" don't seem interested in making things any better for the patients OR the staff. :(

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Specializes in Acute Hemodialysis, Cardiac, ICU, OR.
Hi thread I'm from Colombia . I'm working for davita in NC . I feel so bad my job is very stressfull and dealing with PCT is terrible, I know at the hospital patient ratio is 1:1. I dont Know sometimes I think PCT acttitudes is becouse I'm foreign Nurse , my accent....

I like my ptes I enjoy spent time with them .

:specs:

Patient-Nurse ratio is only 1:1 when doing an ICU patient -- otherwise we generally have 5 patients in a bay, with 1 or two nurses and one tech.

I hear you on outpatient stress, though... I don't think that would be the avenue for me. I LOVE working Acute (hospital) -- we are normally able to set our own pace because we are sending for our patients, rather than having to keep up with their scheduled appointment. Of course, things don't always go according to "plan!"

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I agree with the exception of the "footwork" in chronics. I worked open heart/trauma and burns for over 20 years and find I am stagnating in chronics. I feel more that I'm running an assembly line rather than actually utilizing what I have to offer. More tunnel vision that any other area I have worked. I value my assessments skills and realize not everything is due to "low b/p" or "they just need thier tx".

These was my main complaints with chronics*: Assembly line nursing and stagnating skills. When I returned to the hospital (acute dialysis) after 5 1/2 years in chronics I felt really out of touch with a lot of things - e.g., I had never even seen a Pyxis med dispenser. I had to ask my colleagues (and dh, who is an ICU nurse) a lot of basic questions... I'm honestly glad that I didn't wait any longer to return to hospital nursing - I don't know if I could have!

BTW, I would never recommend dialysis nursing to a new grad for the same reasons. (That's one plus of med/surg: You sure learn a lot, even if they run you ragged!)

DeLana

*Other complaints included horrible hours (starting at 5:00 a.m.) and some PCTs with horrible attitudes

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Hi thread I'm from Colombia . I'm working for davita in NC . I feel so bad my job is very stressfull and dealing with PCT is terrible, I know at the hospital patient ratio is 1:1. I dont Know sometimes I think PCT acttitudes is becouse I'm foreign Nurse , my accent....

I like my ptes I enjoy spent time with them .

:specs:

Welcome, Eliza!

You are so right about the PCTs - but it's not because of your foreign accent! Most of us have had problems with at least some of them for various reasons (there are several threads on the topic).

Maybe after a while you could transfer to acutes, where the ratio is indeed 1:1 (or 1:2 in our unit at times).

Good luck!

DeLana

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Dialysis, ICU.

It seems that our experiences have been almost the same DeLana. I was an LPN in the chronic clinics before I went back to rn school. When I graduated RN I went back to work in a hospital working in their dialysis unit. I absolutely love it there!!! In the clinics I felt like a production worker but now I have more time to get to know my patients. There are only three other people that work there and that's it. No PCT's although when I worked in the clinic I loved the tech's. Our unit can hold 3 pt's at a time and we usually have 2 to 3 nurses there. It's great. Only problem is that when you are done you go home and sometimes that's at noon. We also do pheresis, do you?

After some experience in the chronic units I would advise anybody to go to the acute setting. It's great!

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Our unit can hold 3 pt's at a time and we usually have 2 to 3 nurses there. It's great. Only problem is that when you are done you go home and sometimes that's at noon. We also do pheresis, do you?

After some experience in the chronic units I would advise anybody to go to the acute setting. It's great!

Yes, fluctuating pt census is our biggest problem as well. Since I'm PRN (I have toddler twins and don't want to work more than 1-2 days/week at this time), I'm the first to get called off when the census drops. However, it's usually not a problem since I work 'till 20:00 and they always want to have 2 nurses on hand (you never know what comes in from special procedures or the ER late in the afternoon).

We don't do apheresis (the local blood bank does that, which is fine with me).

DeLana

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Specializes in LTC, FP office, Med/Surg, ICU, Dialysis.
Hi thread I'm from Colombia . I'm working for davita in NC . I feel so bad my job is very stressfull and dealing with PCT is terrible, I know at the hospital patient ratio is 1:1. I dont Know sometimes I think PCT acttitudes is becouse I'm foreign Nurse , my accent....

I like my ptes I enjoy spent time with them .

:specs:

Just getting back. Hi Elizatru! I think PCTs give nurses (and their PCTs) attitude regardless. This is a an ongoing problem (check https://allnurses.com/forums/f48/tech-vs-nurse-war-252014.html). But again, remember the region you're in. Remember the Union won!

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