DaniRN1

In my experience, a 2-3 hour sequential treatment is standard. I have never heard of inverting the dialyzer for these treatments.

You know, it all depends on your location. I have observed two entirely different buy outs. My experience has been, that when staff quit, it was because of rumors and fear the unknown, not the job or FMC. The first buy out was rough, but that was because FMC kept all of the incoming staff and put them in the high positions and didn't offer them to veteran staff. They got rid of no one. The second situation, the new staff will tell you that the transition and support from FMC has been wonderful. hang in there and make up your own mind. Give it a chance before you do anything rash. Good luck!

You can expect tightening of supply costs. A well run company. A lot of employee perks. They almost always try to keep staff when there are mergers or buyouts. Overall a good company. Changes take forever, and we have an antiquated computer system, but I wouldn't work for any other dialysis company!

You probably know enough about the urinary system to get started. You should brush up on hypotension and diabetes signs/symptoms. Anemia knowledge is huge. The meds Epogen and Heparin are good to know as well. Be prepared to be busy and be a good prioratizer. I have been in dialysis 14 years, and I love it. Good luck, and keep us posted.

I feel your pain. It all has to do with speed. Eventually, you'll be able to clean and set up that first machine in 4 minutes, but until then, take off patient #1 and clean machine number #1 (by the way, Medicare would give your clinic an Immediate Jeopardy if they knew you guys were testing machines with dirty lines). Take off patient #2, strip and clean machine #2, tape up patient #1, and set up machine one after tests have passed, then finish number two. Hope this helps some. EVERYONE has this problem at first. Hang in there and good luck!

I made the switch. I did not give up hemo because of the high demand. I switched because I wanted my weekends and holidays off. I actually am doing home hemo, which I LOVE. PD is a lot of case management. A lot of teaching, and some clinical skills thrown in to boot. It generally seems a happier place for patients and staff. Hope this helps. Good luck!

I have been in dialysis 14 yrs. I have done several roles: Patient Care Tech, LPN, RN, Education, Home Therapies. Here's what I like/liked: Some wonderful patients No Sundays Some schedule flexibility Autonomy, but with clear protocols Some regularity, mixed with unpredictability (this is perfect for me!) Supervisory role Physicians & staff are a team and there is respect there Learning a myriad of different disease processes, not just renal failure Disliked: grumpy or psychotic patients grumpy or psychotic staff members! High Patient Care Tech turnover Sad patient situations (they got cancer, can't afford a med, etc) Overall, I have had a great experience in dialysis, and plan to retire in Home therapies! Hope this helps. Good luck!

Your situation simply proves you are a GOOD nurse. Why? Because you are bothered about a mistake. Because you know you will NEVER make that mistake again (you learned). That' s alot of what nursing is, continual learning. When you think you have it all down, someone or something reminds you that you need to learn something. Also, if the other RN(s) or docs hold this against you, after all of the good and right things you have done, then perhaps it's time to change locations, not careers!

I have been in dialysis for 14 years, 8 of them as an RN. Any clinic, or job, for that matter, can be run by lousy managers/staff. There is no way to know that until you work there. I can tell you, that as the supervising RN in a 17 station clinic, I was busy. I was autonomous and I loved the job. I learned so much about nursing. I also jumped in and did everything I could...clean, put patients on, make schedules, etc. I, too love to be busy, so when I did have down time, I created something to do. The descision, as you know, is up to you, so good luck!

:lol2:I used the ANNA Core Curriculum. I pulled all of the questions out of the back and studied those. It worked for me. Good luck!

I was an HD tech before I was an HD RN, and I can say, that as techs, we had no respect for nurses that were there in name only. In the fast paced world of dialysis, we needed someone who could help out in a pinch, so we didn't drown. As the nurse, I want to learn and do all aspects of the job, including machine set up and tear down. Besides, cleaning machines helped calm my inner cleaning beast!