rizenfly

I was a new grad going into a chronic unit. My advice to you would be to get your face into everything you can; ask questions; jump in to help -even if it's just to grab tape - and be flexible. I love dialysis nursing and do not regret my decision to begin my nursing career here.

First, out pts. are instructed not to shower or bathe or touch their P/C.s When they get to the unit, we take off the old dressings, change gloves, cleanse the cath site with Chloroprep or Betadine swabs and wrap the ports with betadine wipes for 3-5 minutes. Change gloves. Hook them up. Change gloves. Apply tegaderm or gauze/tape to the cath site. During treatment pts. have a chuck under the site and a sterile gauze 4x4 under the catheter. After tx, we wrap the ports again with betadine 3-5 minutes. Change gloves. Apply new sterile 4x4. D/C lines. Change gloves. saline flush, heparinize, cap off, apply gauze and tape. Done. Temps are take pre- and post Tx, any s/s of infection pt. is given IV antibiotic. I think PPE and constant changing of gloves/washing hands has been the key to our low infection rates. We have a large amount of noncompliant clients, but we still manage to keep infections down. We also have a QC person monitoring our procedures regularly. Hope this helps!

I am a new grad of 6 months and went directly into dialysis nursing. It took 3 months to learn the basics of the michines (yes, we also have 2 types). I also fluctuate between 2 units, two different hospitals, and two different sets of dynamics. I wonder every day when I will get the hang of it. What gets me through is evaluating what my weaknesses are and asking people whom I trust and who respect me to help my iron out my problems. (For example: once I started nursing, I forgot how to put the pts. on. In one unit, I don't have to worry. But when I go to the other unit, it is required.) So now I practice that. My colleques tease me about me notebook because I'm always running over to write more notes in, but they also ask to see my notes on occasion! Hang in ther! Let's keep in touch...

I started as a new grad in hemo nursing and am very happy. There are many options availabe if you get bored. I personally enjoy the routine of it all. But everything I learned as a nursing student doesn't seem to apply in dialysis nursing!

As a new grad, I make 22.00 an hour for days with a 2.00 shift differential after 1pm. This is just slightly less than hospital med-surg nurses.