Tech vs. Nurse War

Specialties Urology

Published

I am a new dialysis nurse, well a new nurse period, and until today I loved my job and the people I work with although they've been a little slow to warm up to me on a personal basis.

Here's my delima....

I am in training and my preceptor is a tech and a DAMN good one at that. I have no problem with her being a tech. I understand I have to learn the nuts and bolts of dialysis before I can go on and it is my understanding that I will go on to be preceptored by an RN later in the game. That said, of course I'm excited about being an RN and wanting to jump in with both feet but know I have to take baby steps as boring as I might think some of them are.

Today I had my first evaluation and my FA and preceptor said I had an attitude about my being an RN and that the techs weren't happy. I was blown away! I thought all this time I'd been showing, if not telling them how great I thougth they were blah blah blah...

I'm beginning to think that it's the other way around, that the techs have an attitude about me being an RN but not knowing much of anything about dialysis.

I'm interested to hear from other dialysis employees, both techs and nurses. I'd like some pointers on how I can avoid saying anything in the future that will piss them off. I hate offending people and this really has me upset.

The only thing I can think of is to never use the term tech or nurse again and stick to our companies term of "teammate" or refer to them as crew memebers, but that seems a little silly to me because after all there IS a difference in training, licencing etc, otherwise the state of Texas would licence us all as "Dialysis Peoples".

HELP!

I was in acutes and started back in chronics last august till now. Our clinic is small and hasn't accepted medicare patients yet so staff is low. It's just me and a PCT but I find her highly annoying. She has many more years experience than me and constantly tells me her thoughts and opinions and what she thinks I should do in every situation. I'm slowly starting to put her in her place. I treated her as an equal in the beginning because I really respected her experience but the more I am with her I see that she doesn't have a rationale behind her "experience". She just has experience. She also has ADHD which is why she is also really annoying. I'm looking for another job...probably out of dialysis although I do like dialysis...having bad coworkers can really make you hate your job even if you have the greatest job in the world.

I work with a tech who has 14 yrs experience . She doesn't fail to mention it at least two to three times a month. I have five years HD experience and I was in acutes for two. I'm seriously thinking of going back to acutes despite the hectic nature of my schedule in acutes because at least I would be working with other nurses in the hospital. I am constantly being told what to do by this tech and also if a patient has a problem , she will come and talk and I won't be able to get a word in edgewise. She has ADHD also .When a patient has a complication I feel as if the tech is anxious because she repeats a lot of things and sways back and forth (could be due to the adhd) but I get so irritated that I just walk away. Some of the patients refer to her as a nurse. When they find out she can't do everything then I remind them I'm the one who is a nurse. I'm very close to quitting this job although the pay is really good since I work for a private nephrologist group. i do not want to get the tech fired because she lives paycheck to paycheck and I have enough to meet my needs.

I just get so frustrated when she teaches patients without asking me or teaching them initial teaching. Oh and I forgot to mention when a patient does have a complication or something and she takes care of it, if I go to the machine and do something she always comes and say what's wrong. She always asks whats wrong when I go to a patient because she wants to know everything. Am I supposed to answer to her/?

I only tell her the important things but I don't feel as if I have to answer to HER. I'm charge nurse. am i in the wrong here?

The problem will probably only get worse. Companies will continue to attempt to find ways to save money and that includes getting techs to do RN work. Means they can hire/pay fewer RNs, period. I work in a state that allows techs to push Heparin while the states next to us wont allow the same. What makes my state different? Well, do you think a congressman just woke up one morning and decided to draft up new legislation regarding PCT's and Heparin? Not likely. The idea was set in motion by a lobbyist from a for-profit provider whispering into his wallet/ear. It is more prevalent in red states such as TX (techs doing assessments?!) and VA. Not a coincidence.

Also, I can't agree with the previous sentiment that techs are resentful of RN's. I have seen once well-liked techs receive licensure only to return to the clinic as an RN and get eaten alive by their former "co-workers". It the epitome of jealousy and insecurity. The older techs are the worst offenders as they attempt cash in on their "seniority" in lieu of chain of command granted authority.

Tired of watching techs break the law? Too bad. They don't have any skin in the game and no real incentive to play ball. No hard earned license to lose. They learned by on-the-job-training, same as a gig with the Home Depot or Burger King. They can just find another gig in a long term care facility or the kitchen of your favorite restaurant if they lose this job.

Please save me the righteous replies defending the good techs you work with/happen to be. I'm tired of everyone telling me they are the exception. There is a problem in the field of dialysis and non-RN's doing RN work is a part of it.

Does this post offend you as a tech? Then go post a rant on AllPCTs.com and save me some grief.

Specializes in Dialysis/Nephrology.

I also work there n wish I didn't! I originally was hired on at a private clinic where I got most of my experience. I thought going corporate would be a great idea with all the benefits that DaVita has to offer. But your right, the techs give NS bolus' just because the patient states, " I think I feel bad go ahead and turn off my goal" OR "I think I'm feeling bad give me some saline". Excuse me, you came in here in a wheelchair today because you can't walk because your feet and legs are so swollen you can't walk on your own and you have gained 15# in 2 days! I don't think your goal needs to just be cut off after only 1 hour of tx because you 'think' you 'might' be feeling bad! Somebody find me a HD NURSE PLEASE! :banghead:

Specializes in Dialysis.

I just started in dialysis 5 months ago... my clinic is run through our hospital system. I can say i havent experienced any of the issues described in the above posts... thank god! I work with a wonderful group of nurses and techs... both of which respect each others knowledge and experience. I am just thanking my lucky stars that i started my renal nursing career where i did!!

Specializes in Pediatric Home Health.

I'm a new grad RN in New Jersey trying to get a HD nurse position. Do any of you work for Davita or FMC in NJ?

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