Do you guys think I did the right thing? I'm a Nurse but still study dialysis tech.

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I enrolled in a dialysis tech. course but I'm already BSN. I'm still waiting for my other documents in order for me to become eligible to take the nclex exam. The reason why I did this is to have a background in dialysis. My sister told me that I shouldn't done that because some hospital teaches that skill to the nurse for free. Hmm so the hospital is gonna teach the nurse how to insert needle but what about other stuff? I have other stuff that I didn't know before I study the dialysis tech course like for example water treatment, theories about the dialysis etc. I think I did the best thing, in order to become a good hemodialysis nurse we have to start from the bottom to have a good foundation..

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Specializes in Gerontology, nursing education.

Moved to Dialysis/Renal/Urology forum to elicit more responses.

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Specializes in RN, BSN, CHDN.

I think you did the best thing, to be a hemodialysis nurse you need to be able to function effectively as a dialysis tech. Where I work we have a problem at the moment with having too many nurses and not enough techs so we have to float the RN's in so having tech experience will be of great benefit

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Specializes in Dialysis.

Part of my training for acute dialysis involved following a tech around for two weeks. Really good experience as far as setting up and troubleshooting the equipment and water system. I think it will make you a better dialysis nurse.

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Specializes in Public Health.

Well, I agree. I just started a few months ago in hemodialysis as an RN. Most of my training so far has been with a tech in order to get that part of the job down. I think I need to understand and have a good handle on the tech's job in order to be a good and effective HD nurse. Good luck!!

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I just started training as a Dialysis Nurse but we have to work as a tech for around a year before we are on the floor as a Nurse. It makes sense because dialysis is very specialized. It is very interesting and I am thankful for the experience.

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Specializes in Peds Critical Care, Dialysis, General.

I think you've done a very smart thing. It's fairly easily to access a patient, but all the finer points of dialysis that you're learning in a formal way are invaluable. I just trasferred to dialysis and am learning of lot of this on my own. One RN I shadowed started out as a tech and was a phenomenal resource to me. The adult unit has techs who set up the machines and are a great source of information.

I really don't think you can ever have too much knowledge! You have so many more avenues open to you.

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