five10fevr

I agree with the staffing ratio's for patient safety. I don't agree with a lot of the other proposed issues. Do you realize that Access rated death are not even in the top 3 of dialysis rated deaths. So making sure that the chair is empty for 45 minutes in between last patient off until next patient on. What is this going to solve. It will spread out the shifts where you would have to cut out the 4th shift. If not when will you have time to regenerate your R/O system. Or who is willing to get off dialysis at midnight. Not the patients in my unit. Smaller units will have to close. If you add an extra 2 RN with a salary of almost $100,000 a year with taxes, insurance ect..., then you add additional 2 PCT at $40,000 a year. The unit is looking at almost additional $300,000 when they are barely breaking even because of the high rate patient with Medi-Cal here in the state of California. We all know if the patient primary insurance is Medi-Cal we don't even break even for the treatment. At this point we can not even get DHS to do recertification's every 6 years. How will we get them to our units every year? Staffing is hard enough. If I recall the staff can only work 8 hours a day. So the employee will have to pick what unit they will be working at, as most have two jobs. Where will the units get qualified staff to cover the shifts for the employees they lost, plus the additional staff they have to employee to meet ratio's. I have heard most RN's will go back to the hospital so they can work two jobs to support their families. What about the patients. If the unit cuts out 4th shift. Where do all the 4th shift patients go? Many units cant expand due to staffing or space limitations. These patients will eventually find a new dialysis unit, but some have gone to their unit for 5 maybe 10 years why force them to leave. What happens when a RN calls out sick and a CC or FA can not be considered part of the RN:Patient ratio. We all know how hard it is to find last minute coverage and the CC or FA works the floor. Now we are triaging the patients to see who needs to go to the hospital for dialysis or who can wait for the next dialysis treatment. If we run their treatment out of ratio the facility will be fined. Yes, on paper it looks great, but in reality it is a lot to consider. I vote NO. I don't work for either of the big two and maybe they need to consider better staffing ratio's instead of spending so much money on opposing SB349.

ConfuseRN- As a FA myself, you are still considered the charge nurse as you are technically the only RN in the building. You also don't have the proper training to be the charge nurse. To be a charge nurse and to be left alone it takes approximately 6 months. 3 months give or take of proper training and 3 months of another RN in the building with you. This is CMS guidelines. Remember it is your RN license. Best of luck.

I have worked for two different companies one as a tech and one as a RN. As others have said, you either love it or hate it. You have your good days and your bad days. Your day can have 27 catheter patients with only 2 nurses and it runs smooth or you can have 14 catheter patients with 3 nurses and it is hectic as can be. You are always on the go, but in the chronic unit you get to know your patients. You build a relationship with them and you know how much fluid you can take off, who will cramp and who's BP will tank. I love the chronic unit for that reason. I also love doing acute dialysis for the fact I get to teach the first time dialysis patient all about their disease process. Give it a try, but ask to shadow both units to see which ones flow runs smoother and how the nurses work together. That is so important. Best of luck.

I waited for all my onboarding and background checks to process before I gave my notice and it was weeks to the day. I gave my notice and started. Once I started, I felt it still started slow with online education and I didn't earn a full paycheck for atleast one pay period. I believe that every clinic will run differently though.

I just started with Davita Acute's. I am not sure what state you are in but in California the pay is lower. Davita pays time and a half after 8 hours and double time after 12 hours. Most hospitals in southern California it is straight time all 12 hours and no overtime allowed. The acute program I work for there is a lot of over time. So per day pay is actually is more money.

I was told by the FA that they would call within 24 and they did. He said he didn't like people hang out waiting. I was also one of the last to interview. Do you have the card of the person you interviewed with? Maybe give them a call to check if the position is still open

Sorry, I didn't get notification of message. I did have my interview and it went great. I was hired and just starting out. I have hit the acute floor yet. That comes next week.

Thank you for the input. Once I interview this week and figure out how their Acute program works. I can/will decide, if I am offered the job. Anyone with additional feedback, it is greatly appreciated.

I am currently on my 7th class at UOP. They took almost all my ADN credits so minus two math classes it is all nursing. You write a paper each week, discussion questions, no real test, and some group projects. It does go by really fast with most classes only being 5 weeks long. It is defiantly doable. Best of luck to everyone that has decided to enroll. I picked UOP because I have less pre reqs then any other school. Plus I saved 25% for a year do to an agreement with my employer.

Thank you for the response. Do you think a non-dialysis RN will be okay starting in Acute's vs. Chronic's? I know everyone is different just wanting your opinion.

I currently have an interview next week for an acute dialysis RN. I have never worked as a dialysis RN, but I have a few years of dialysis tech under my belt at a non-davita clinic. I currently work on a busy Med/Surg floor. What are everyone's thought going straight for acute's instead of starting in a chronic unit first? Does anyone know how acute nurses get paid? Is it hourly or is by case? I hear acute nurses are paid both ways. What is the starting rate in California? I want to thank everyone for their input.

Absolutely, and best of luck to you. COC has a good program with some awesome instructors. Don't get me wrong there are some instructor's that keep you on your toes. These are the one that you are thankful you had in the long run.

It took me about 6 months to find a job. I am currently in a BSN online program now, that works with my employer to receive a reduced tuition. The RN to BSN program that COC has with CSUN would be a great option if still available. As many employers are only looking for BSN's.

The program is more stressful then other ADN programs out there. In the long run it is better for you. I have been told that by a few different employer they will hire a COC student over another ADN program student because they know we were taught the right way. Best of luck to everyone that has applied.

I graduate from COC in Dec 2012. They will send out denial letter a few days after he acceptance and waitlist letters.