ESRD

http://www.foundationenterprises.com

There are NO LPN's in dialysis units in Maine that I know of cuz they can't give meds.. Fresenius is the only dialyzer there except for one DCI clinic and some in the hospitals..I was an LPN when EPO came out and they drove me out just by the way they treated me.. It was BMA actually at the time.. We were just overpriced techs.. Heck, Maine's BON comes out with an edict almost evey year that LPN's can't give heparin as a bolus at the initiation of dialysis and every year they rescind that.. I bet Fresenius reminds them that techs are doing it...LPN's can't give heparin as a bolus in the hospitals except to flush a hep lock...We could hang the bag of heparin though.... I still will do my own assessments to CMA .. (cover my a**).. As far as charge I had heard ( maybe here) that Medicare has just come out with a rule that LPN's can't be in charge in a dialysis unit. Don't know if that is gospel or not.. ESRD

First off don't take this wrong..It's my opinion.. I don't sign behind anyone as to someone's assessment. I listen and feel for myself.. Too many times I have heard rales or found pedal edema and would have been brought up short by the nephrologist if I had missed those things. I am signing that chart and I better be sure it's accurate.. Heck, in Maine at FMC we never listened to lungs.. Might touch an ankle now and then.. We always signed behind the tech..Not my ultimate way of doing things.. But then again I was never in charge there.. I had my own patients and assignment. Davita staffs very lean license wise. I have worked in two facilities for a year now as a traveler.. California and now NC.. I'm ready for a change. CT has a staffing law for dialysis units..They must be 50% licensed staff on and I loved Gambro in Norwalk just because of that. ESRD :) As charge I will continue to listen to lungs, heart, and feel ankles.. Just my way of doing things. I make rounds even if I am not giving meds.. I check every patient in the place. I check goals, sodium modeling, UF profiles, hep infusion and asses EDW and adjust as neccesary..

Hi, I'm new to this forum and found it interesting to see all the different things that LPNs can and cannot do in the various states. I am an LPN in Oregon. I worked for RCG from Aug. thru Dec. of last year in Portland. I also worked for Gambro. I liked RCG but the intense negativity/rudeness of some of the techs toward patients and staff alike drove me away. The commute had some to do with it too--45mins-an hour or more at times. With both companies the benefits were great(pay and PTO were better with RCG); my duties were "team leader"(charge), meds, EPO, working with pts who had catheters(the techs were able to put on those with caths too which was a plus since Gambro prohibited techs from putting on cath pts.) With Gambro I pre-assessed and post-assessed pts. With RCG, I assessed within 45mins-1 hr of put-on time--that was permitted. I understand the statement of thinking that only the RN could "assess". I was always taught that too. LPNs can only "gather data". t's a shady area. I got the feeling when I worked for ea. company that the LPNs might be on their way out ---or relegated to being "high-priced techs", and wondered if I just worked as a tech if I would lose out on earning nursing hours toward license renewal--never got a real straight answer on that. I really enjoyed my expereince in the field--really liked RCG and the RNs I worked with, but too many techs and nurses were afraid to speak up about/document in writing the frustration with the techs' misbehavior. From reading some of the posts, it sounds like RCG is well-thought-of. What company is FMC short for? I checked out hte Davita site and it looks like they aren't in Oregon though I hear rumors they may be coming to this state. Does anyone have an opinion on that company or any others? Thanks for any input. FMC= Fresenius Medical Care. The largest dialyzer in the world.. http://www.fmcna.com Fresenius Medical Care North America. This business is very competitive. ESRD is the only chronic illness in the country that is totally funded by Medicare....A big big push now I see is towards daily home hemo....Interesting how the pedulum swings.. ESRD :)

No need Brownie...Wink Wink...How's "school" ESRD,,,

I am a travel nurse. I only do chronic hemodialysis. I work for http://www.foundationenterprises.com also a small company in Cali.. http://www.qtstaffing.com does mainly hemodialysis You might try http://www.davita.com they are trying to start a travel division.. Of course they called me in Sept of 02 and they still don't have the program up and running. They are looking for a recruiter for the program.. They want an HR person... HMMMMMMMM Maybe you should think twice on that one. Fresenius asked me about traveling when I first started and have been "thinking" of starting a travel division.. Their website is http://www.fmcna.com They called me begging for me to work the two weeks around Xmas in RI.. I don't have a license and they couldn't afford me anyway. Not at that time of the year. If you talk to Foundations ask for Joe.. Tell him his favorite traveler in NC send ya.. ESRD...

You might not wanna know... ESRD.. I am a traveling nurse. I work for Fresenius in Maine. Gambro in CT. DCI in Carson City, NV, Davia in Cali and now Davita in NC.. If you are interested you can IM me through this site.

You MIGHT get $22/hour in FLA if you are lucky.. I don't know the exchange rate..Hopefully, you might.. The southern area of the US is lower paying than other areas. ESRD

Seeing it and living in it for 6 months are two different things....:)))) ESRD

Yep ..I'm sure you wouldn't like our ice and snow.. ESRD.

UMMMMMMMMM Daytona, Jacksonville, Ft Myers, Orlando, Sanford ( love bugs there yuck). ESRD

That's what I was gonna say too.. FLA is very low paying , the RN license takes forever to get. And IMHO it's a dump.. Sorry all you natives and FLA lovers.. I just wish they would clean up those darned palm tree leaves beside the road.. ESRD

Gambro is the third largest dialyzer in the US..They are a Swedish based company. They are not a nursing agency. You can see their openings on their website http://www.gambrohealthcare.com or these other two http://www.fmcna.com http://www.davita.com If you are interested in licensing you need to check with the Florida Board of Nursing. I hear it takes awhile to get a license in that state. Good Luck ESRD

Just remember in order to claim travel pay on your income taxes you need a tax home. You need to show ties to that tax home. Working there will show the IRS, among, other things, that you have ties to your tax home. Good Luck ESRD

You need to check with HR at your hospital as to their per diem policy. Some have a very lenient one.. You can work once a year and keep your per diem status.. Others require you to work one week end every six weeks, one major holiday in season..i.e. Xmas, 4th of July...Winter/summer respectively. If you plan to go back and not lose your senority you will need to abide by the rules. If you have alot of senority you probably don't want to lose it. On the other hand if you know you can walk right back into the hospital and pick up where you left off maybe a leave will work. Maybe you can do your duty on the six week weekend thingy by requesting a long weekend in your contract and coming home to work. And maybe you can work Memorial Day for your summer holiday.. It just all depends on what the hospital requires.. That's what I'd do... One hint you might love travel nursing and this would all be mute.. Except for the fact that you need to have a tax home to be able to deduct travel expenses.. So hopefully the hospital will work with you to help in that aspect.. Good luck ESRD :blushkiss

Hey that's my STATE..The terrorists left from Maine we gotta be careful...LMAO....As Maine goes so goes the nation.....HMMMMMMMMMM Thanks for the laugh.. Probably not a Mainer doing that Must be Washington... ESRD

Jnette, Have you ever worked for DaVita... Talk about short staffing.. I am dialyzing 36 patients in 12 hours with 5 techs... Many days I am the only licensed nurse in the unit......That didn't happen at FMC.. Just my observation.. ESRD

I worked M/S for 15 years.. One thing I will say about it.. It toughens ya up.. If you think you won't like it you probably won't. If you think you will you might. ESRD:kiss :kiss

My company told me they don't like to work with LPN's as they feel they don't have enough opportunities for them. I have worked in Maine..LPN's can do every thing that tech's can but not EPO or any other meds. So they are just higher paid tech's...That's why I got out of dialysis as a LPN when EPO came out...Maine just doesn't use them. They can't be charge either. IN CT LPN's can do it all...EPO, catheters etc...But not charge. In NV they can't give meds or be charge. Can't remember if they do cath's In Cali they can do caths but not meds. No charge. In NC they can do it alllll Charge if RN present... I.E, the facility administrator is an RN. LPN gives hypertonic, mixes antibiotics etc. This LPN has no dialysis experience.. I don't like hypertonic and when I am on I make that very clear.. I don't know how the powers that be think an LPN with verrrrrrrry limited dialysis knowledge can assess the need for hypertonic... Also, in NC LPN can do assessment pre dialysis... HMMMMMMMMMMMM.. I have always been under the assumption that only an RN can assess. I wonder if Medicare with put an end to that. So I wonder how the states will accept Medicare regs.... It will be interesting. As usual many many LPN's are very good and can assess but unfortunately there has to be protocols and rules etc.. JMHO and some facts thrown in for good measure. ESRD:kiss

Can you elaborate on the LPN role in a dialysis unit. As a traveler I have seen many.. Also, does Medicare "law" over rule state law??? ESRD:kiss

Having never worked for either of these companies I might not be the best resource. I have had Aureus call me late at night..Late at night meaning 1030. Took me several tries to get them to stop calling me.. Actually, had to get nasty.. I was always taught not to call anyone after 9 PM on a week night unless I know them very well. It has been reported on Delphi that Aureus calls travel nurses at work and pretends to be family members in order to recruit them... I used to tell my kids they couldn't call me at work unless they had already called 911. As for Favorite Nurses I know nothing of them.. I will say that I believe agency nursing and travel nursing are quite different. ESRD:kiss

I hate being referred to as a Ms. Mrs or Miss.. First off what is a Ms, I am single and much to old to be called Miss. And too intelligent also. I have a name none of which is Ms Mrs. or Miss. ESRD:kiss

I am not a recruiter. I am just letting dialysis nurses know about a good travel company who specializes in dialysis both perm and travel. http://www.foundationenterprises.comJoe Hill is da bomb. They also place allied healthcare workers. ESRD:kiss I am on assignment in NC with them at the present time. Extended 13 weeks..Will be here a total of 26 weeks.

I'm going out on a limb here trusting that you are legit.. #1 Involved question...3 questions in one. Interested in: how others did the job I do,,concerned about: what would happen to my condo i.e frozen pipes break in's etc,,,questions about: heck I didn't know enough to know what questions to ask. #2 One of my biggest issues is my mail.. The post office seems to forward willy nilly.. And many of my bills must be returned with my "new" temporary address..Cuz I start getting bills with my new address only on them.. I keep calling the bill people and telling them my perm address is ..Let the post office forward. I did get my new AMEX card at my temp address and was surprised..HMMMMMMMMM no rhyme or reason.. Also, check my credit report and I have like 4 address' there and each bureau has a different one for my current one...What a mess.. I have no one who will consistently send my mail..Friends say they will but they don't #3 Delphi Travel Nurse and Therapists... Lot's of recruiters there and travel nurses with helpful ideas, hints, and places to avoid.. I don't work in a hospital so some of it is not imformative to me particularily. Also like http://www.geocities.com/hobonurse Nice list of companies there with some reviews of them from nurses.. Also, http://www.travelnursedepot.com #4 New assignment is ok.. I actually get excited because usually it's a clean slate...Sorta like new curtains. Orientation in my field is non existant..Show me the med room. Housing usually do Corporate like Residence Inn, Extended Stay or Homestead.. National chains.. Good service.. Had one smokey place ..Stayed one night .. I found apt my company moved me. Agency support.. I rarely need them.. I usually just vent and that's it.. I don't look for problems and they don't seem to find me. It's 13 weeks there is a light at the end of the tunnel Hospital politics Well that's one reason I travel...Stay out of the politics even though I don't work in a hospital anymore #5 Internet #6 How to get there...Use http://www.mapquest.com #7 Who has jobs.. I find as a traveler I am not as interested in the media hype of anything.. ESRD:kiss

Nope I'm all set...Thanks... ESRD:kiss