LPNs working in dialysis... do you like it?

Nurses LPN/LVN

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Specializes in Hospice/med surg/MRDD/LTC.

okay. I was just offered a position at a chronic dialysis center. I was so excited because i thought it would be a cool specialty to learn:D. I plan on being done with RN school in a couple of months and i thought previous experience would help increase my pay too if i decided to go somewhere else. But I have been discouraged by soooo many negative threads on this site:eek:! Seems like everyone hates it! Somebody please give some positives. I'm having second thoughts now. :confused:

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i have been a dialysis tech for 14 years and am waiting on acceptance for spring 09. dialysis is pretty much routine. pretty much the same pts everyday. the nurses pretty much pass meds, do pt assessments but honestly, nothing major. where i work (davita) we do the bulk of pt care, but like i said everything is pretty much routine. we don't have a lot of pt's "crashing" but when we do the nurses do assist. besides an occasional CPR episode there usually are not any true emergencies. the pt's can be "very needy" requiring constant attention. i am pretty much burned out and don't plan on doing dialysis upon grad. hopes this helps

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Specializes in Hospice/med surg/MRDD/LTC.

thx for input. Good luck with school. You should be burned out after all those years though. I dont plan on doing anything that long. Attention span is too short.

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I hear a lot of negative things also about dialysis! I'm also considering working in dialysis and was wondering if anybody knew about how much an lpn would make fresh out of school.

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Specializes in Dialysis.

salary depends on where you live, as always. If you go to the Dialysis forum under specialties you can find some of us and our accounts of the job.

I will say this: I don't think it's as easy as saying "I am considering working in dialysis". I don't want to put down any sector or specialty or whatever, but it's different than "getting my feet wet in MS right after graduation" or "working an LTC just until I can find something else". (Again, I am not trying to offend anyone!I respect everyone's right and reason for working where they work.) I am just trying to convey that dialysis isn't something you just pass through, like a rotation on a floor. It is a career choice. At least, it ends up being one. You love it and you want to do nothing else, or you run for the hills screaming. :D

Having said that, if you love it, awesome! I think my nurses get real satisfaction out of the job they do every day. :yeah:

Anywho, go check out those forums! Good luck! And I hope I didn't offend anyone, it is so hard to convey tone here! :typing

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