missmacrn

I suggest to you vidrine rn that you speak with your case manager if you are uncomfortable once your 6 week training is through. I was naive and made a big mistake when I first started into dialysis by not voicing my concerns...remember...it is your license on the line. When I first went into dialysis 6 years ago I was with a unit that had I think 12 stations. I was trained by an RN with only 6 months experience in dialysis, a very good RN but still with limited dialysis experience. Once I had 6 weeks training I was ALONE in an out pt clinic on the TTS shift with 2 techs and I think 6 pts. The techs were very knowledgable with years of experience but of course if something happend it is ultimately the RN's responsibility. I have learned my lesson. Thank god nothing happened but I would never put myself or my patients safety on the line again. I have since moved to another facility where I rec'd 6 months training and had to have a year experience before taking on call or doing acutes unsupervised. I learned throughout this training why I was doing certain procedures not just how to do them. ASK lots of questions and be sure you are comfortable before you go on your own!!

Thanks to RM 3 I found a lot of info on the crit line site. To nosonew we use althins as well. We have some new, most of them are older machines though. The crit line is software put into the machine that monitors the patients blood volume and hct...it is complicated but to make it simple it allows the nurse to monitor a graft that can show if a pt is going to crash. Thanks for the replies.

Hello fellow dialysis nurses. I am presently on Maternity leave. Up here in Canada we have a yr off for Mat leave and I am coming up to my year and feel like I am out of the loop!! I was in the states when I had my first child and only got 6 wks off. The only advantage to this was I was able to get back into the swing of things rather easily. Since I have been off our unit has installed crit lines to our machines. Can anyone give me some info on them so I am not completely lost when I go back to work. Thanks

I hope I can answer some of your questions. I will have to think back to when I worked in the U.S as a dialysis nurse. I have been working back in Canada for 5 years in dialysis and it is quite different from nursing in the states. Yes, it is quite possible to get hired without experience. You will get trained on the job. I was hired at Fresenius without experience. If you are in a outpt. clinic as I was you will probably be open Mon-Sat. I worked very early days, 12 hour days. The pay was, if I remember, comparable to the pay I made at the hospital. In the outpt. clinic you have techs. I think we had 2 or 3 techs and 2 RN's for a 12 station clinic. Any full time job and completing an MSN program will be challenging! A lot of the next questions all depend on the type of clinic and how much staff there is in your unit. We didn't take call because it was strictly outpt. If dialysis was required they went to the hospital off hours. Where I am now we require an on call nurse from 1 am until 7am. (we are opened from 7 a.m-1 a.m) We also need a Sunday on call. from Sat 1 a.m until Mon 7 a.m which is split into shifts. I hope I answered some of your questions. Dialysis is really a great place to work. You don't get near as many "codes" but be aware that they do happen. More so where I am now. I work in an acute hospital setting. I still love it. No nights and Sundays off! (just the odd on call. We have 90 nurses working in our program though!!) Good luck in whatever you decide.

I had to wear white uniforms for nursing school and at my first job. ( I was at that job for 6 years.) I hated it; I was so excited when I changed jobs to be able to have a variety of colours in my 'uniform wardrobe.' However, I was at the hospital last week with my stepmother who was undergoing surgery. I had no idea who was who and none of the staff introduced themselves...we didn't know if the janitor, the porter, the nurses aid or the nurse was taking her to her procedures or who was taking her blood pressure. (of course the name badge was always turned around and everyone moves so quickly that you don't have a chance to read them anyway.) Now, I am ambiguous. I as a nurse wearing colourful scrubs wouldn't want to go back to wearing plain white day in and day out. As a patient or family member though I would like to see nurses somehow stand out from other staff.

I am new to this and am not sure I am posting this in the right area but hope I will get some advice. My step mother has been diagnosed with breast CA and underwent a lumpectomy a week ago today. I did her post surgical care as I used to do some home health nursing when I worked in the states. (I am now working back in Canada as a dialysis nurse.) Anyhow, the surgeon said to remove the drain (hemovac) once the drainage was 15cc or less. The case manager at the hospital suggested it would be about 3-4 days and usually okay to remove 30cc or less. On the third day she had 7.5cc in drain however she had some drainage around the exit site. (serous-sang) (4x4 covering was damp over 24 hour period but not soaked) I removed the drain. The next day there was no drainage from the site and has been looking good. No redness, warmth or any signs of infection. She called me today and said that she notices her breast is looking bigger and she can hear a swooshing like there is fluid there. This alarmed me but her surgeon said some fluid build up is normal and the body will absorb it but to keep a close eye on it. How normal is this and when should we be alarmed to call him back again??

I am a new user. I have been reading from this site for a couple of weeks since my step mother has been dx with CA and thought I might as well join and maybe I can get some feedback on some specific concerns I have. My step mother and I are very close. She and my Dad have been married for 25 years and we have grown to be very good friends over the years. Her mother and two sisters have or have had CA. Her 39 year old sister died 2 years ago from breast cancer. After her sister died she went to her GP and told him that she wanted a mammogram because of the family history. He deferred her from it stating that it may stir something up. ( I thought she had one done.) He instead performed breast exams until now. She insisted on having a mammogram during breast cancer month. Sure enough a tumour was present which when biopsied was positive for CA. They did an U/S in which the nodes looked inflammed. Bone scans and cxr all were negative. She underwent surgery last week removing the tumour and nodes. We will find out next week at follow up with surgeon about the nodes. I find myself extremely angry with her GP. She is angry but feels she needs him. (we are in a region where there is an extreme shortage of doctors and it would be very hard to replace him.) How should this be handled...should he be reported? If she didn't insist on having a mammogram who knows how far it would have gone.