how to be a hemodialysis nurse?

rubyslippers · Jul 7, 2008

Do you know which setting - inpatient, acute dialysis or chronic dialysis you are interested in? It is usually easier to get a job at the chronic unit- Fresenius usually does not require prior dialysis exp.- will even take new grads! Just contact the clinic manager at a unit you may be interested in. Fresenius offers a decent training program to its staff.

If you are only interested in working in acute dialysis (in-hospital setting), it may be more difficult. These units usually require nurses to have some prior dialysis experience or ICU experience as you are dealing with very sick and complex pts. The pay for acute dialysis is more than working in the chronic setting but you have to deal with being on call and sometimes erratic hours. Check with the acute coordinator or charge nurse in your hospital's acute dialysis unit. Good Luck!!!!!

guest22304 · Jul 8, 2008

like the other poster said, just contact your local chronic hemo unit. i know for a fact that davita will hire new grads. i went to a davita with no hemo experience. good luck

nursingisok · Oct 27, 2008

They will hire you off the street as long as you have a license

nursern1966 · Nov 11, 2009

They will hire you off the street as long as you have a license

are you kidding me you must be joking around!

Onekidneynurse · Nov 11, 2009

are you kidding me you must be joking around!

www.fmcna.com or www.davita.com and check out the # of jobs. You can throw a dart at the map of the USA and find a job in HD ( chronics anyway) with just a license. Actually, you don't need a license you could be a PCT and they only need a HS diploma or not. But they will have to be certified by April 2010.

Don't waste your time going to "school" for dialysis training. All the big companies and several of the smaller ones will train you.

If you want to know which companies have units near you check out this site. www.dialysisunits.com

Good luck

soozabel · Nov 16, 2009

It's true, you don't need specialized training, you don't even need to have experience. I work for Dialysis Clinic, Inc. (DCI), this is my first job as an RN, I graduated in May 09, applied to the local hospitals and couldn't find work because of lack of experience. I knew an RN that worked at the local clinic, she got me a contact name, I sent in my resume and cover letter, got the interview and was hired. They have a pretty good training program with an in-house nurse educator. I'm almost done with training and will be on my own soon, however, I still have soooo much to learn. At this point, I can put in needles and hook a pt. up to the machine, monitor and remove the needles and dismantle the machine. However, I still need help with interventions and such, but I'm learning every day! I really like it, it's busy, but it's not crazy and stressful like on a Med-Surg unit.

Look around your area for local clinics and apply, you may be pleasantly surprised!

Good luck!

Mamakellyd · Nov 17, 2009

I'm with the others on just go looking for a job. Check out the websites listed above and you can usually apply online. My suggestion as well is to ask to be able to spend one full day in the unit so you can get a feel for the unit as not all are the same. You can gauge their interest in you with whether or not you're allowed to shadow someone, and also you'll get a feel for whether or not the work is for you, and if so if that unit would be the right fit.