I Hate Dialysis

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Today was my 1st day on the job at a very popular dialysis clinic. I hated it!!! Very boring and repetitive. I am a new LPN and this is the 1st job I've held as a nurse. I am not going back. The preceptor is very knowledgeable but just can't teach. The work is very boring and I didn't go to nursing school to clean bloody machines.

Oh, how right your are. Dialysis is so horrible.Yes I was told its a love/hate relationship. I truly do hate this job. I left the hospital environment after years of ER and ICU nursing to what I thought would be a "nice job". It has been anything but that. The FA told me how nice the job was. I was lied to from the beginning. I was told I would be home by 630 at night. I start work at 5am and pull in my driveway no earlier than 830 pm. I am too tired to see my children.there is mandatory overtime. The whole business is a scam. They are prolonging death and if they are not doing that then they are killing people. You could train a monkey to do this job. They dont need an RN. The RN's are just glorified techs with med privelages. I dont even know why I went to nursing school.They strip you of all of your nursing duties and independent thinking. Get ready to be told "you have to fit the mold' and things like "if you want to succeed in this company you better learn to drink the punch". I am so sick of having a leader that dresses like a musketeer. There is something wrong with a grown man that wants to parade around in tights.This particular company is a mickey mouse one at that. If anyone approaches you with a dialysis job---RUN,Run as fast as you can. You will lose your license,your diginity and your ability to think like a human being. For all of you that enjoy dialysis, you must enjoy being sh@# on on a daily basis.You can be a boring methodical drone if you want to, but I have more of a brain than that.

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Oh, how right your are. Dialysis is so horrible.Yes I was told its a love/hate relationship. I truly do hate this job. I left the hospital environment after years of ER and ICU nursing to what I thought would be a "nice job". It has been anything but that. The FA told me how nice the job was. I was lied to from the beginning. I was told I would be home by 630 at night. I start work at 5am and pull in my driveway no earlier than 830 pm. I am too tired to see my children.there is mandatory overtime. The whole business is a scam. They are prolonging death and if they are not doing that then they are killing people. You could train a monkey to do this job. They dont need an RN. The RN's are just glorified techs with med privelages. I dont even know why I went to nursing school.They strip you of all of your nursing duties and independent thinking. Get ready to be told "you have to fit the mold' and things like "if you want to succeed in this company you better learn to drink the punch". I am so sick of having a leader that dresses like a musketeer. There is something wrong with a grown man that wants to parade around in tights.This particular company is a mickey mouse one at that. If anyone approaches you with a dialysis job---RUN,Run as fast as you can. You will lose your license,your diginity and your ability to think like a human being. For all of you that enjoy dialysis, you must enjoy being sh@# on on a daily basis.You can be a boring methodical drone if you want to, but I have more of a brain than that.

It really sounds like you are in a unit that is not that great. WOW,, what do you mean about killing patients? Sounds like you are in a Davita unit, when you mention muskateer. Actually, the process of dialysis is a critical one in that it can turn bad in a second and if you don't know what you are doing, a pt can die. There are many things that can go wrong, and, often do. Knowing how to trouble shoot the machine when something goes array, or knwoing what type of symptoms for each patient (indivualized) can mean the difference between a life and death situation. I totally disagree with you regarding a monkey can do the job. yes, there is alot of tasks that are the same, day in and day out. However, being astute to that which I mentioned above can save a patient's life. Such as identifying a pyrogenic reaction, knowing that you should not use a dialyzer twice if a patient has in infection, knwoing that when the blood pump stops what to do, so many things. These patients are being kept alive by a machine and many of your patients might lead the fullest life they can thanks to staff conducting safe practices. RenalRuth:nurse::nurse:

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I went to work at IDS outpatient dialysis. When I asked about more frequent VS' I was told only if they looked like they needed it & that I would get to know my patients & tell if they should have it more often. I was out cleaning machines the other day & a patient was calling for help & everyone ignored him. I went over & he said he wanted off the machine as he didn't feel well. I asked him if he had felt this way before & he said once. I went & got my teacher & had her help me as I had no idea what to do. Come to find out he was becoming septic before my eyes. Her & I worked on the patient & the real RN called the MD & ambulance. I am very scared I have taken the wrong job.

Krazyone, you did the right thing. It is shocking for me to read such that you wrote, but I know that this does, in fact, happen in many units. I have also known where staff have contacted the state and filed an anonymous complaint because the care was substandard and patients were being treated unsafely. To state that you check a patient if they don't look right and you will get to know your patients is horrifying. Perhaps those that make such statements should, once, just once, be at the receiving end of care that is the type of care they provide. Maybe then they will realize that this life-saving treatment can become life-threatening in a second's time. Of course, one must further ask, where does this come from? Is this the message that the corporate office, area manager, etc. are sending to those working at the facility level? RenalRuth:nurse:

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Specializes in Corrections, neurology, dialysis.
Oh, how right your are. Dialysis is so horrible.Yes I was told its a love/hate relationship. I truly do hate this job. I left the hospital environment after years of ER and ICU nursing to what I thought would be a "nice job". It has been anything but that. The FA told me how nice the job was. I was lied to from the beginning. I was told I would be home by 630 at night. I start work at 5am and pull in my driveway no earlier than 830 pm. I am too tired to see my children.there is mandatory overtime. The whole business is a scam. They are prolonging death and if they are not doing that then they are killing people. You could train a monkey to do this job. They dont need an RN. The RN's are just glorified techs with med privelages. I dont even know why I went to nursing school.They strip you of all of your nursing duties and independent thinking. Get ready to be told "you have to fit the mold' and things like "if you want to succeed in this company you better learn to drink the punch". I am so sick of having a leader that dresses like a musketeer. There is something wrong with a grown man that wants to parade around in tights.This particular company is a mickey mouse one at that. If anyone approaches you with a dialysis job---RUN,Run as fast as you can. You will lose your license,your diginity and your ability to think like a human being. For all of you that enjoy dialysis, you must enjoy being sh@# on on a daily basis.You can be a boring methodical drone if you want to, but I have more of a brain than that.

Wow. That was harsh. I think I'm rather above a trained monkey, but maybe I'm wrong since I lost my dignity and ability to think as a human being. Maybe I didn't hear crackles when I assessed my patient's lungs today. And maybe that pretibial edema was my imagination. Calling the doctor to tell him the potassium bath was wrong because the potassium was too high and he might want to rethink it. I must be a really well trained monkey. Boring methodical drone? Geez.

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Wow. That was harsh. I think I'm rather above a trained monkey, but maybe I'm wrong since I lost my dignity and ability to think as a human being. Maybe I didn't hear crackles when I assessed my patient's lungs today. And maybe that pretibial edema was my imagination. Calling the doctor to tell him the potassium bath was wrong because the potassium was too high and he might want to rethink it. I must be a really well trained monkey. Boring methodical drone? Geez.

Indeed, I agree. As I have stated, a life-sustaining treatment that can become life-threatening in a second's time if one does not know what they are doing. Those that believe there is nothing to being a dialysis nurse or tech, truly do not understand dialysis and that which goes with it. The problem in many units is that delivery of care is not taken serious enough and vitals are not taken, patients lungs are not checked, wrong baths are given. Just look at the situations of recent that made national news media. Staff in dialysis units MUST be trained and educated to meet changing needs of patients. this is serious business and I don't mean financial business. RenalRuth :nurse:

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Specializes in Corrections, neurology, dialysis.

Exactly! There are long moments when nothing is going on and I'm not doing much at my job - which I love - but when things go wrong I have to be able to act quickly. And if you are a dialysis nurse you know that it's never one thing. When things go downhill it's usually several things at once. Often when something goes wrong it triggers the machine to alarm, so not only am I dealing with whatever problem the patient is having, I'm trying to keep the machine running so they don't clot.

Every day I run into a nurse on the floor who wants to trade places with me. They want to be seen as something other than a waitress. When I show up at the bedside everyone is glad to see me and they aren't asking me to heat up their coffee. Sunday I had a patient who was rushed to the ER after he passed out on a plane. He came was rushed straight from the airport to the hospital. When I go there he was holding my hand and saying "thank you" over and over. He was terrified, wanting to know what was happening to him and if he was going to die. I spent a lot of time reassuring him that we were going to take good care of him. He was terrified of the machine because it does look rather ominous. I explained the machine in very basic terms, explained how dialsysis works and what he could expect to happen. He wanted to know why his kidneys failed and I explained renal failure to him and why it's important to keep glucose and blood pressure under control. At the end of treatment he gripped my hand tightly and thanked me. He had tears in his eyes and said I saved his life. It was a very rewarding experience for me.

Maybe I should have just thrown my poop at him.

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Specializes in Mental Health.
Today was my 1st day on the job at a very popular dialysis clinic. I hated it!!! Very boring and repetitive. I am a new LPN and this is the 1st job I've held as a nurse. I am not going back. The preceptor is very knowledgeable but just can't teach. The work is very boring and I didn't go to nursing school to clean bloody machines.

:uhoh21:Wow...I'm an experienced nurse seeking to work in such a place and here you are with the job and complaining. :) Many new nurses feel the way that you do...if they are not seeing codes and stressed out patients with plenty of calls to the good doctor they think they are missing out. Wrong...as one of the previous posters suggested a slow pace can be a good pace...especially in nursing. What type of position would you prefer? Hospitals don't pay well, and LTC/Rehab will give you too much responsibility.

If it's not for you then that's ok...but atleast make sure you are not being hasty...nursing can be stressful and tedious. Many dialysis clinics offer to send LPNs back to school...who knows maybe you could make a career out of it...just a suggestion. In any case, I hope you end up with what you desire. God Bless! :heartbeat

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Specializes in med-surg, dialysis.

Natkat, you are so right. One thing about dialysis that is different from alot of other areas is that you develop a relationship with the patient because you see them 3 times a week every week for as long as they live. Most of them are really appreciative because they know this is not an easy job.

Being familiar with the patients allows you to spot when something is not right with them, even if they won't tell you right away. Some days are awful, and others are good. I have at times considered going into another area, but I know I would really miss it if I left.

A good dialysis clinic has good teamwork from the PCTs,nurses, SW,RD, and everyone involved in the patient care. A patient's non-compliance with meds could be because of Medicare's crazy "doughnut hole" and they are having to pay out pocket for meds that they cannot afford. Sometimes they don't have enough money to buy quality food that they should be eating & end up buying junk food because it is cheap. Sometimes they have adult children who run through Mom & Dad's money with no regard for their parents' needs. Life happens, and sometimes we may be the only ones who really care.

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Specializes in A myriad of specialties.
Today was my 1st day on the job at a very popular dialysis clinic. I hated it!!! Very boring and repetitive. I am a new LPN and this is the 1st job I've held as a nurse. I am not going back. The preceptor is very knowledgeable but just can't teach. The work is very boring and I didn't go to nursing school to clean bloody machines.

I'm also an LPN, worked a very long time in LTC, needed a change and was fortunate enough to then work in dialysis for 5 years. I miss the comaraderie with the patients and fellow nurses and PCTs.

I was told when I first started in that specialty that it would take a year to "feel a little comfortable"--some say 6 months---I was never totally comfortable---it's very challenging; I NEVER was bored with it....TOO MANY THINGS CAN GO WRONG TOO FAST!

To me dialysis was so MUCH MORE than "changing bloody machines". I got out of it because the clinical manager changed and, like many other nurses in that clinic, did not want to work under the new clinical manager. I also needed a change out of that specialty. It truly is a "love it or hate it" kind of job.

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Specializes in A myriad of specialties.
At the end of treatment he gripped my hand tightly and thanked me. He had tears in his eyes and said I saved his life. It was a very rewarding experience for me.

Maybe I should have just thrown my poop at him.

:lol2: HAHA Good comeback, Nat! Only a monkey would've thrown its poop....and you're no monkey...nor a methodical drone. None of us who've worked in dialysis are "methodical drones" or monkeys.Dialysis is so much more than menial tasks. It's obvious to me that ERRN1270 worked for a very shoddy dialysis company.

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I hear what you are saying. I`ve been at it as a new nurse for 7 mo. now. Iam an older person that took on nursing at a later time in life.But the situation that I`m in now is that, I do like the job. What I have ran into is that every mistake that I make I get written up for. The last one(which is a final written warning) was for laughing over a pt inappropriate comment. Now you have to know every one was laughing. It was more over that I could not believe what she said, that I was laughing over. It was presented to me that I need to show more control to the techs and not to lose control of the clinic. Also, Iwas working as a tech. that day and it was the charge nurse who turned me in.But, not a word was said by her to me nor any of the other staff nor to the pt. of what was said. The district manager sits in on these meetings and I tell ya she one nasty B-tch.I have not had a good exp. with Diaylsis due to these 2 women.I feel I have no recourse, but to try and stay out of trouble. So any advise from you more exp. Diaylsis nurse????//:bowingpur

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I hear what you are saying. I`ve been at it as a new nurse for 7 mo. now. Iam an older person that took on nursing at a later time in life.But the situation that I`m in now is that, I do like the job. What I have ran into is that every mistake that I make I get written up for. The last one(which is a final written warning) was for laughing over a pt inappropriate comment. Now you have to know every one was laughing. It was more over that I could not believe what she said, that I was laughing over. It was presented to me that I need to show more control to the techs and not to lose control of the clinic. Also, Iwas working as a tech. that day and it was the charge nurse who turned me in.But, not a word was said by her to me nor any of the other staff nor to the pt. of what was said. The district manager sits in on these meetings and I tell ya she one nasty B-tch.I have not had a good exp. with Diaylsis due to these 2 women.I feel I have no recourse, but to try and stay out of trouble. So any advise from you more exp. Diaylsis nurse????//:bowingpur

hey redknight congrats on finishing Nursing School, do you mind share the joke that the patient told you please?

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