Should I stay or should I go??

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Okay, so I work at a really nice hospital. All about patient and employee satisfaction. I work on a floor that is crazy busy all the time. We see mostly female surgeries, anything GI related, Post partum, and we are also the pediatric unit and whatever else they throw at us, like COPD, Respiratory distress.. So as a new nurse I get LOTS of variety and experience. Everyone I work with is more than helpful and has been willing to show me the ropes. We strive for a 4 patient to 1 nurse ratio. All of our charting is computer charting. We work 3 12 hour shifts a week. I start at 7am and the shift ends at 7:30pm. I don't usually get home till 8pm. I keep tellin myself that its only 3 days a week. I make 20.27 per hour and usually bring home bout 1200 every 2 weeks after taxes,insurance,blah blah. I have to work some holidays including christmas, thanksgiving, easter. SO I WAS JUST OFFERED A JOB AT A DIALYSIS CLINIC called DaVita. They are all over the country. They offered me 25.00 an hour. Working 4 10 hour shifts. I start around 5am and get out around 3:30 maybe 4:00. NO HOLIDAYS, they are closed on major holidays and they are closed on Sundays. I would be required to work 2 saturdays a month. This would be a specialty and the job can be redundant maybe repetitive. I have read some bad things about the company on the internet but with it being so large, of course there is gonna be some mud slung. The difference is 14,000 dollars a year. I am wondering if I should jump on it or am I just thinking the grass is greener on the other side. I would like to be home around 4 instead of 8 and off on holidays. why is this so hard to decide? What do u think?

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Specializes in Med Surg, Home Health, Dialysis, Tele.

Hi I pm'd you! :coollook:

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Specializes in Med Surg, Home Health, Dialysis, Tele.

There is an old thread that has recently been renewed, so look at that. Put the DaVita name in the search for more info. some threads are older but nothing has really changed.

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Specializes in Dialysis, Med Surg, Home Care.

Run, run far far away from chronic dialysis...at least, run if you value your license.

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The "no holidays" thing they told you is major BS.

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Specializes in Dialysis (acute & chronic).

No holidays??? - Most dialysis clinics are closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. Some are also closed on New years day too. We are all open on the summer holidays. The clinics open up on Sundays around the holidays that they are closed on so the patients can get their 3 days in a week.

As for 10 hour shifts, that is what it states on the schedule, but once you get working they end up being 12, 13, 14 hr days.

I don't like to bad mouth companies, I have worked for them all, but ask them about their RN and PCT turnover rate. Find out who their oldest/longest employee has been there.

If you get done now at 7:30 pm and are at home at 8:00 pm 3 days a week - that would be a dream job!

Read other posts regarding the BIG 3 dialysis companies and then make your decision.

Good luck to you and always remember - money isn't everything and the grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence.

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Hi

I just want to say ..maybe is to early ....that I feel ok and safe with Davita....so far..after my first day of 'orientation"...but I have a past experience as PCT in dialysis ...so I can see a difference...I used to work

for a private small(only 3 centers in Manhattan) and for a Frsesenius center in Queens....

I used to work like hell 12-16h/day ...when I wanted to stay over 12 hours... as PCT,I taught (6years ago)

that never I will return in dialysis, just because of early start in the morning which was 5:15am (so I should

be awake around 3am)....was infernal and I had 2 full time jobs..in the same time....

But...because I just pass my NCLEX and whithout any other experience in USA as a RN ofcourse...I decide that the most secure and fast way to get a job (specially with economical problems)is dialysis....so ...I am back

but now with RN license and for the first time I am thinking that I am afraid to don't lose my license.

I had a chance to get a job in Fresenius but when I visited a Davia center in Bronx I was very pleased with what I saw...and yesterday was my first day....After 6 years I was surprised to see how fast I recall the mashine system an how to put the information in the computer...and also I saw that with 12 patients we have 2LPN,2PCT and....2RN....the charge nurse who is working every day from 6 to 7.30pm and I will be covered all the time.

Most like I will do meds and ofcourse because we are a team (and somehow I still fell asPCT) I will help much is possible....so far everything is look OK if not perfect...the only think that is start to bother me is the ideea of starting to reuse ...the salary is great for my begining 34/h and all the benefits...the medical insurance is look high but I can stay with my husband's one....so I will keep you posted.Good luck to everyone

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Hello, I've been working for Davita for 3yrs now and I really like my job. As a new dialysis nurse getting started at 25/hr is really good I got started at 23/hr with no experience. In regards to the work hours I average 50/week working 4 days. And as for not working major holidays that is correct! What we do in our clinic if a particular holiday say lands on a Thursday we dialyse the patients on Sun. that way staff and pt's are off that Thurs. Remember dialysis pt's either dialyse MWF or TTS. I think you should go for it!!!!

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I have heard that some clinics the techs push heparin. does yours? Also, I have heard that reuse kidneys have been mixed up. that scares me. I hope my clinic is not going to be like that!

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Hello dRN1,

Yes, in my clinic techs (PCT's) do push heparin. This of course is permitted after the medical director approves it and is in the P&P (it also depends on the state you practice in). At first I was shocked that PCT's were able to do this, but if you think about it, it would be impossible to do it yourself. My clinic has 60 patients per day and only 2 RN's (that does not include CVC which only RN's can touch about 30 out of 60 pt's) so you can see if we were the only one's giving the heparins how hard it would be. "Reuse kidneys" are called dialyzers and depending on the company you work for they many or many not have a reuse program (this is were they reuse the dialyzers). Remember if working for Davita you will have a reuse program but if working for Fresenius or DSI then you will not be reusing dialyzers they only use "dry packs" or single use dialyzers. Getting the dialyzer mixed up is very dangerous, it's like giving the "wrong medication" to the wrong patient, we use "double checks" to verify that the dialyzer belongs to the right patient. Two PCT's must sign the dialyzer before starting tx this is to verifies that the dialyzer belongs to it's owner. Hope this helps!!!!

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Thank you so much for your reply. I am still processing everything in my brain! I want to go for it, I really do, but I have read so many posts from UNHAPPY x-DaVita employees being worked to death and in fear of loseing their license. I have also read where RN's are in a struggle with PCT's overstepping their boundaries, well in the hospital you have the opposite sometimes with CNA"s hiding out, taking many breaks, half ass doing things. On my floor they don't even do blood sugar's! So, in some ways it would be nice to have well trained, certified PCT's.

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Specializes in med-surg, dialysis.

Dialysis is one of those jobs that not everyone can do. If you think you would like it, go ahead & try it. It is nice being off on Sundays, (for most of the year). It is a hard job to learn, but you can do it.

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