ATCant

started training as a dialysis nurse at the end of June. My anxiety level is very high and I keep forgetting little things as far as the set-up of the Phoenix dialysis machine. Things like turning off the KT/V but only on occasion or forgetting to put the prime line into the WHO when it is time to prime the darn thing. My Mentor (who is a PCT) keeps telling me that the she has trained other nurses who were not cut out for dialysis. Worked with another person this week who was more laid back than my present trainer and things went much better. I only forgot to turn of the KT/V once with the setups that I did. I enjoy the patient care and want to learn the nursing part of things. The other nurses tell me that I will never be as fast as a tech and that is not my job anyway but I do need to know how to take someone on and off the machine safely. I totally understand this. However I feel like that unless I am running around from machine to machine at take off and put on with my hair on fire that I am not keeping my mentor happy. I just feel like it is an impossible environment to learn the job in. If I were hiring on as a PCT I suspect I would have been booted out the door already. My manager is willing to work with me and I will be with the laid back trainer for another day then I need to make a decision as whether this type of nursing is for me. Any input from you dialysis types would be greatly appreciated. I don't know if I am just very intimdated by the technical nature of the job or if I am just too dumb to know that I am not cut out for this job.

Worked as a Hospice nurse for 10 years and was with many as they died. I have come to regard death as a sacred experience. We always tried to ensure that the symptoms were controlled so that the patient was comfortable and calm. When someone is not at peace as they die then it can be very scarey for the nurse and family. I belive that there is an afterlife and that evil exits but I have never seen a ghost or been freaked out. I have however, seen others who watch too many scarey movies and don't understand the sacred nature of the next stage of life whose door is death. I am not afraid to die myself, I just hope that whoever is there to take care of me as make my journey can be compassionate and comforting. I already have my hopice nurse picked out.

We don't have an impatient Hospice facility where I live. If a patient has a symptome that we can't get under control then the MD can put the patient into the hospital long enough to get that symptom under control. It's not very often that we have to send a patient to the hospital. Our patient's are at home, nursing home or assisted living facilities. I have seen enough to know that unless the doc's can guarantee a cure if I am diagnosed with Ca then I want morphine, ativan, and whatever else makes it possible for me to be home and cared for by my family.

I have been in Hospice staff nurse since 1995. You can read my greeting and perhaps we could compare notes. I work for a freestanding Hospice. We never started out as a homecare agency which then had to switch to a hospice model of nursing. Did homecare for almost 2 years and felt like the mantra given by our director of that agency to maximize our visits was a racket designed to funnel money from medicare and insurances. With Hospice care I am doing more for my families and patient than I ever did in working in the Hospital or homecare. Every once in a while we get patient's from another Hospice usually out of state and if is obvious that they no longer are appropriate for Hospice. The family wants to keep Hospice because the nursing care is good and they get more services, ie meds, supplies, free volunteer to sit with mom so the family can get out to the flea market. The patient is appropriate for Home care service most of the time with a skilled need but because there are less services and they have been told by the previous that we will admit them into the next benefit period they choose to keep hospice care. We get stuck with an admission that is not appropriate for Hospice. Is this ever a problem for you. The philosophy of Hospice is very differnt from the home care philosophy. I don't see how an agency can use the same nurses and change the payor source and expect the nursing care to go from home care to Hospice. Perhaps I ramble too much but do you see these types of things? Will be glad to compare some of the things from your thread. Let me know.