HH or Kidney Center? Need advice, please!!!!

[Burlshoe114]

I am so confused and have to make a decision fast....

I was all set to take a HH job and am going to be going on a ride-along tomorrow. After this, I was to call the HH center and let them know if I am wanting to the job. I have been out of work for about a month. It is a full-time salary job, I use my own car and am reimbursed $0.50 per mile. There are so many things I like about the sound of this job, and I would love to have the freedom to schedule my own day. The money would be good, as they are willing to match me on my last salary. I would be allied with a well-known hospital with good benefits in the area.

Out of the blue I heard form the Kidney Center around the corner from my house. I had applied to them when I first resigned two months ago, and never heard a peep out of them until tonight. I got a call from the manager out-of-the blue wanting to know if I was still available, and could I interview immediately and possibly start on the 22nd? It is a 3-day-a-week position, 13-hour shifts. I would be able to walk to work and go home on my lunch breaks and see my son. I also would have more free time on my days off.

I have never worked in either HH or Dialysis. I think I could do the job of either, but they are both such different jobs and have such different pros and cons.

I am so confused and don't have much time to think things through!!!

HELP!!!!

What shoud I do????

[belgarion]

My xyl is on dialysis and I can tell you that the nurses in the center don't walk between patients, they run. Also, if you work in dialysis, all you learn to do is, well, dialysis. On the other hand, the money is good, you would have a regular schedule, and you are within walking distance.

I don't know what HH is like where you live but I know a number of HH nurses and the one thing they agree on is that it is either feast or famine. One week you run through five tanks of gas and the next you sit by the telephone. You say it is a full time salaried position so that may not be case there.

Given the current job market you need to make sure you know what you are getting with both jobs before you turn down one for the other. Personally, given the opportunity to work within walking distance of home I would choose dialysis. I've had enough driving to last me the rest of my life.

[NaKcl, BSN, RN]

I don't have neither HH or dialysis nursing experience, but dialysis nuring sounds better to me. My main reason is that it is closer to home, and it is a specialized area of nursing that you can become certified.

[merlee]

I've done both, and I'm here to say RUN from the dialysis job. They have no time to TRAIN you if they are asking that you start immediately, and, believe me, you won't be going home for lunch.

Outpt chronic dialysis pts can be very difficult to deal with, as are many pts w/chronic illness.

If you are going to be salaried at the home health position, ask what the expectation is for visits/day. I loved home health, did it in 3 states.

I loved ACUTE, inpatient dialysis, but the chronic stuff can be soporific after a while, And as soon as you let your guard down, something awful will happen.

[Burlshoe114]

I went for my "drive along" today. I think I am going to go with the Home Health job. I like the idea of a certain degree of autonomy, I like that the organization is affiliated with a larger hospital organization, and I like that so many of the nurses there get jobs there and keep them.

I am not going to be able to continue a lot of my volunteer work for a while, but I have to think about my family and keeping them secure.

There is a lot of computer documenting, but I think I can adapt to it.

Things which concerned me about the dialysis job - Skill loss. I don't want to find myself only knowing how to do one thing three years later. Also, I have a gut feeling that in such close quarters and monotony, co-worker squabbles could be frequent. (I had enough of that at my last job!) I also hear that the pay is not as good, but the work is just as hard. And I just got the vibe that things were very micro-managed and non-personal.

Am I off base?