drscepura

I kind of politely disagree. This seems like a deeper issue related to "hierarchy" and "pecking order" and almost a "patriarchal" sentiment. And, being a male nurse who did rotations in a variety of areas, any nurse can teach about sunburn. Does she not realize nurses do the discharge teaching and have their own separate autonomous licenses and do not report to the physician?

I wonder if Dr. Pimplepopper realizes that one day she will be cared for a nurse when she needs it the most in her gravest hour? Duh. Show some respect, Dr.

I have been an adult and pediatric staff nurse, manager, and director interchangeably for 24 years. You will love taking care of the kiddos and their families. Because that is what it really is, a whole family experience. The turn around time for qualified candidates getting transplants may not be as long as you would think compared to adults. Things are much slower, pump speed, treatment times, and the monitoring is more frequent with children. As children age their treatments in the dialysis unit become more adult-like. Depending on where you are geographically in the country children and families will have their own set of unique needs. You may see more catheters in younger children, and as they get bit older trying them on PD is optimal as well because it works better for their school schedules. Some large hospitals will have a teacher for the children because often they miss a lot of school. With covid many are out of school completely now so the teacher in the dialysis unit is even more important now days. I hope you will enjoy caring for pediatric dialysis patients. Houston Children's and Seattle Children's and Boston Children's all have great programs and they are all valuable resources for your questions, as well as a group known as SCOPE collaborative. Try to get involved with SCOPE if you can, they are an incredible resource where you can share in the most current research and knowledge with peers nationally and from abroad. Best wishes!

Hi Dialysis Nurse, I am a doctoral student doing my DNP at Edinboro University in PA. My project is on "retention and burnout". I have created an interesting learning module that discusses structural empowerment and 2 key theories to integrate into practice! Please take some time to review the PowerPoint and at end of PP is the Questionnaire which takes 3 minutes to do. The statistics will be used for an article for publication. Thank you so much! R.C. Scepura The learning module link is here: https://drive.Google.com/file/d/1FvK55Mmbeu0vU3EBNMi-MEXpq1Gow-m1/view?usp=sharing Inside the learning module is the link to the Google Forms questionnaire here: https://docs.Google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScaQ-lChsUYFdArU1Of3x5t7ivxv0-EBA6p7iOF_homeekPdQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

In the good old days we had several choices of who to work for. Now the choices are very limited. I do not like how nephrology nursing has become entwined with for profit monopoly companies like FMC and DaVita. It's time for antitrust!

In the 14 years of being a dialysis RN I have only attended one funeral of a very special patient of mine several years back. I used to look forward to taking care of this wonderful patient, as she was such an inspiration to me, her demeanor, her fearless countenance, her courage, her strength, her inner beauty as a human being. She was a bilateral amputee who at one time in her life was a famous model in NYC, but she lived in Boston. She was in her 80's. The stories she used to tell us. She brought her portfolio in and I was amazed at how time had changed her along with diabetes and dialysis and amputations. Her husband loved her very much and doted on her and I knew her son because he owned a store in my neighborhood where his father would also work. I knew the whole family before I knew her as a patient. She just happened to come to my unit when she could no longer be taken care of in an outpatient unit. At least once a week her right forearm graft would clot, and she would have to be hospitalized overnight because she was so fragile. I used to say to her, "Ceil, how do you stay so happy when this clotting happens to you once a week?" She would say to me, "smile the world smiles with you, cry you cry alone!" She was a beautiful person and when she died it was so sad for everyone, the whole unit adored her and our neighborhood as well. I had never been to a patients service or funeral before, but I really felt as if I had to go. And, I did. And, I felt better for doing so. For years she was part of my life three times a week, in our acute hospital unit setting. I still miss her company, her smile, her laugh. She was so sweet. She is the only patient's funeral I have ever been to. So if you feel like you need to go, I think you should go. I hope this helps you.

I have been traveling over five years now and have used several agencies for my various contracts. I am sick to death of all recruiters and how they are parasites living off of the fruit of my hard labor! They sit behind the comfort of their desks and phones and get thirty percent of the bill rate what they charge for my expert services. It is time ALL nurses wake up and start forming our own practice groups like physicians and lawyers and become independent contractors/real professionals that are autonomous, knocking out the middlemen blood sucking recruiters! Today I received a contract that specifically stated that it was grounds for immediate termination of my contract and I would be liable for all the fees incurred if I am to discuss my wages with ANY nurse while on contract. Can you imagine this....? Signing a contract that takes away my Freedom of Speech right to discuss my livelihood with another colleague ? They really must think nurses all just fell off the tomato truck! Or do nurses keep a blind eye to money matters and finance due to our compassion and recruiters take advantage of our good nature? Nurses need to come together across America and figure out how we can eliminate middlemen agencies, we have the legal right to be autonomous practictioners and need to be rewarded accordingly. We need to keep the thirty percent cut of the bill rate that recruiters steal from us in our own wallets and purses. If you are tired of being ripped off and haggling over this and that for every contract I would like to hear from you to brainstorm ways we can get rid of the middle men!

I have used Quik a few times. I like them for the most part, except the crappy housing in California. They gave me superb housing in Arizona. The difference is unbelievable. California is tough housing market, but Arizona very different. They are organized with the paperwork, making things happen "Quik" and paying attention to you prior to contract signing. Once contract is signed you hardly hear from them at all, until like two days before your contract ends, and then they want to find you something. Meanwhile you are freaking out as to where your next assignment will be. They do not want to be bothered with the housing aspect of the contract. They pay you well, and on time, and never a problem with pay. Although they seem to start you off at a higher pay then as each contract goes by it's one or two dollars less for you in your pocket. The insurance is average as far as coverage goes. Which usually is the case for most travel companies. Overall I'd give them an 80% which probably the best I've had from any agency at all. Good luck, and as you will find out each contract is different..........List yourself with a few agencies just to be safe.

Salary varies from contract to contract depending on what your specialty is. I believe that ICU nurses make the most money. I am a dialysis/apheresis nurse and I made excellent money in Seattle, San Francisco, San Jose, and less in Phoenix, Boston, Wailuku, and even less in states like FL, PA.... there are more perks I think when you work on west coast, salaries are higher. For instance in CA you make time and a half over an 8 hour day, and if you work 12 hour days, then you do the math. $$$$ $$$$$ I like working in the Bay area very much, it is very lucrative, especially if they pay your housing, and your car expenses, and travel expenses. Usually though they skimp on housing in the bay area because housing is a tough market and is expensive. The only way for you to know if it is better is to try travelling. Every nurse should at least once in their career. Good luck in your decisions!

I started with Cross Country and I had two good assignments with them, my recruiter was decent enough. But then there was always a problem of having desireable locations to go to and she couldn't come through for me, and she didn't start looking for my next assignment till the last minute and it was unnerving. She also was responsible for a lot of other travellers and I felt that she didn't have my best interest in mind. The housing was very nice in Seattle where they put me, I loved my apt. and neighbors. I think with whoever you take a contract with there are pros and cons, minor issues. Good luck with whoever you choose! Recruiter's name removed.

i would choose john c lincoln. that is a nice hospital to work at. i lived in phoenix. is real close to north mountain which is great hiking. there is an amazing mexican restaurant across street from that hospital too that has 2.00 margaritas that are incredible! phoenix is a fun city. watch the calendar though you don't want to be there june-september. good luck!

No one promised you that being a nurse was going to be easy! The reality is young nurse that you have graduated during a time of great nursing shortage where resources for education, preceptorship are very scarce. My best advice would be to change your graduation date on your resume (as dishonest as it may seem so that you can get a job) and try getting yourself into an acute medical surgical unit for adults for a minimum of one to two years. This will help you build confidence which after reading your post seems as if you are very short on. No matter how much you hate it or feel scared or grossed out you have to stick it out. Try to find a position that isn't nights also so you are not killing yourself, a rotating day/eve position would be good. Try to go to a teaching hospital where you will have more monitoring/mentoring. But don't expect all the nurses to be nice to you at first, that is not reality. Nurses are tired of teaching younger nurses and not being rewarded in anyway for it, harsh as it seems. After you have a solid acute care experience under your belt, then feel obliged to try different things. No one says you have to stay in the same job forever. You are free to move about the cabin, remember that. I think you made poor job choices as a new grad. Pediatrics is very demanding for a new grad, and then to float to a NICU! Unimaginable! And then to go to the opposite extreme, doing Hospice! In order to do hospice you need to have the specific qualities to deal with death and dying issues which only a seasoned nurse has. So: my best advice: THINK AGAIN! And do things right in the logical order of progression. Still if you are afraid or traumatized to the extreme regarding hospital work and can't bring yourself to work on a medical surgical unit then go apply for a job selling pharmaceuticals, or work for an insurance company, etc etc. There are other options out there for you. Don't devalue yourself so much!

when you are a confident competent RN the managers pick up on this right away wherever i go and inevitably i end up having to be in charge of the unit. this has happened so much that before i signed this last contract i decided i didn´t want to do charge and i was going to negotiate that before i started. use all your experiences to negotiate what you want. i am fed up though with my recruiter, and have only used her but i need to find someone who understands me, my needs and goes to bat for me. not some selfish opportunist who tries to control-manipulate me in every way possible. can anyone suggest someone that is a good recruiter?

Emmy, I see you are in Australia. I am curious about travel nursing to Australia and finding a good travel nurse agency to help me find either an acute or chronic hemodialysis position there . Can you help, I am not having an easy time finding anything on internet. Thanks in advance, Rick

Steve, do not travel with a company that doesn't pay 100 percent of your housing. These agencies will do anything they can to rip you off any way they can. You have to remember that you are the one with the skills, they are like parasites, living off your good nature and talents. Take them for as much as you can, and be assertive and aggressive and you will get what you want!