LPN role in Dialysis

[xNurseWannaBx]

Hi everyone, it's been a while since I've posted. I'm a Certified Clinical Medical Assistant and Certified Nursing Assistant here in Maryland.

I've been working the last year and a half as a dialysis technician for DaVita. For those who may be unaware or where it may be different, here in Maryland we get state certified as Dialysis Technicians through the BON as CNA-DT's because we give Normal Saline for intervention and draw and give Heparin and (give, not draw) Lidocaine as prescribed. So I'm state certified but didn't get nationally certified which is kind of a big deal. It's recommended after a year of experience to get nationally certified but mandatory by 18 months. I approached 18 months and was first suspended then terminated. I was told I could be rehired if I take the exam.

I let myself get terminated because I started working for my aunt who recently started a home health agency. I started working for her some months ago on my off days before I got fired from DaVita. The work was easy and the hours were great considering a work life balance and I have kids, 3 in elementary school, one of those 3 being autistic and my youngest is not in school yet. It went from good to bad when my aunt wanted me to work 7 days a week with 3 different cases still to only be part time and only make about $400 a week. In the beginning we were mutually helping one another out. She needed caregiver/CNA's and I needed a job but realizing how much I was making outside of my full time job with DaVita, I felt like it was not worth it. So right now I'm unemployed. The second reason I let myself get terminated from dialysis was because the national exam application fee was about $250. I didn't have it when I needed it.

I'm aggressively looking for part time work. I've applied for Medical Assistant jobs in physicians offices and urgent care and they say I've had so much responsibility working as a dialysis tech that it's going backwards working as a Medical Assistant as well as it's been 5 years since I've worked in a doctor's office. So I've been putting in CNA applications for Assisted Livings, Hospitals and Developmentally Disabled group homes. I've gotten a couple interviews but have not landed a job yet. I feel like it's because I've been working in a chronic setting and wasn't really doing activites of daily living like bathing or feeding, things of that nature and also I am not a GNA (which here in Maryland is a Geriatric Certified Nursing Assistant) they can work anywhere from the nursing homes to hospitals. I feel like I can try to get certified in those things but that's just putting money into keep maintaining certifications but no certainty in getting a job.

For a while I've been considering nursing school. Now I'm thinking about becoming an LPN then I can earn more and work anywhere from Ambulatory to LTC and in the hospitals and even back in dialysis. I was wondering if there's anyone on here that's a LPN in dialysis. There was only one LPN at my clinic. They couldn't run charge and had mainly tech responsibilities and could push their own meds like Hectorol and Epogen and give 02 as needed without the RN (respectively). So I was wondering, if I became a LPN maybe I'd go back to dialysis for a while but do they have to be nationally certified like techs since they mainly have tech responsibilites? I figured because they're a nurse they don't need to be certified. Does anyone have any experience or know of any LPN's in dialysis??