Do You Need to be an RN to enter this Field?

[EquinoxSolstice92]

The longer question is: do you need to be an RN in order to become a dialysis nurse? Can LVNs enter this field or do you need to have a two-year or four-year degree? I was thinking of going into dialysis and I have a former co-worker who's currently working in Davita. The thing is, he's an RN so he got in right away but I'm not.

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

Have you looked at available job postings with Davita? Depending on whether they have any postings available for LPNs or not would tend to provide you with at least a partial answer.

[SmilingBluEyes]

You can be an LVN/LPN in dialysis clinics. It depends on clinic. In some, you function as a patient care technician mostly, others you are a nurse but there has to be an RN with you at all times. I work in settings that have both examples (I help out in several clinics in my area, of the same company; they vary. The small ones do not use LPNs at all). If you want to function as a nurse, you are more likely to do so if you are an RN in most clinics. Especially small ones.