Med/Surg to Dialysis

[fin0814]

Hi everyone,

I am thinking about going into Dialysis Nursing. I am a med/surg RN with 8 years of hospital experience and I just have to get out of the hospital setting. I have an interview with Davita next week. I have no experience with dialysis but love patient interaction. Is it possible to go from Med/Surg to Dialysis? I know there will be a huge learning curve and if anyone out there went from Med/Surg to Dialysis, possibly Davita, can you give me some feedback?

[turbogirl22]

Yes it is possible. I recommend shadowing in the unit you want to work in before even applying for a position. I worked in dialysis since 2011, quit yesterday. You will either love it or hate it. It's easy to get burned out due to very early mornings (clock in time anywhere from 0345 to 0600 depending on the clinic), techs who think they run the place, managers who continue to tell you that staffing will get better even though I promise you it never ever does. Outpatient clinic nurses have so much to manage on all patients, like vaccinations, anemia management, care plans, diabetic foot checks, lots of admissions, all while being responsible for 12-16+ patients at a time. I highly recommend also reading as much about dialysis on this site as you can. I promise what u read is the truth and I wish I would have done a lot more research and listened to other nurses before I jumped in blindly trying to get out of ICU.