Tell me about your day...

NephroBSN, BSN, RN · Mar 4, 2006

Hi guys...I'm doing my prequisets fpr a BSN program now, and just am always amazed at how many options there are in nursing.
Could you please tell me about your 'typical' day as a dialysis nurse, in a hospital, a clinic, or where your work? What time do you start and finish your day? Are their night shift positions available? What are you duties? Are you on call? Weekends?
What is your background in nursing? What skills did you need to go into Dialysis? Or did you go straight into it as a new grad?
More questions to come later probably...thanks for your help. :)

Dialysis is a process of osmosis and defusion. We balance the patient's blood ( acid/base balance) and use both acid (2k, 2.5Ca++) and bicarbonate baths.

Units usually start around 0430-0500 some as early as 0300. Usually the techs come in make bicarb ( some units make it the night before) and set up the machines.

Patient start going on about and hour after the unit "opens". A staff nurse my have a patient assignment but usually she is either charge or is the med nurse, sometimes a float.

The patients are weighed upon arrival, temp taken baseline vitals signs. Quick listen to lungs, heart, bs and questions about cp, sob, n/v diarrhea or constipation. The patient is access either via a catheter, fistula,or graft. The amount of fluid is calculated for removal and programed into the dialysis machine. V/S are taken and recorded every half hour.

The charge/med nurse usually does the assessments, gives meds, checks labs, puts orders in the computer, counsels patients on fluid weight gains, oversees the treatments ususally.

Please see my post in the thread Acute/Chronic for more info.

Some units have two "shifts" of patients some have three. The day can start at 0500 and end at 1700 or it can last until 2300 or later. Just depends on the size of the unit and the patient population.

There are nocturnal programs . Again my other posts mentions them

I am a traveling chronic hemodialysis nurse. I've worked in units as small as 11 stations and as large as 38 stations. I've also worked in acutes but very rarely and briefly. I can do them. I just find them boring as I'm used to a heavier load. I've worked mostly outpatient hemo but have worked in a couple of in hospital chronic units. I've worked in 10 states in the last 3.5 years.

NephroBSN, BSN, RN · Mar 4, 2006

Dialysis is a process of osmosis and defusion. We balance the patient's blood ( acid/base balance) and use both acid (2k, 2.5Ca++) and bicarbonate baths.
Units usually start around 0430-0500 some as early as 0300. Usually the techs come in make bicarb ( some units make it the night before) and set up the machines.
Patient start going on about and hour after the unit "opens". A staff nurse my have a patient assignment but usually she is either charge or is the med nurse, sometimes a float.
The patients are weighed upon arrival, temp taken baseline vitals signs. Quick listen to lungs, heart, bs and questions about cp, sob, n/v diarrhea or constipation. The patient is access either via a catheter, fistula,or graft. The amount of fluid is calculated for removal and programed into the dialysis machine. V/S are taken and recorded every half hour.
The charge/med nurse usually does the assessments, gives meds, checks labs, puts orders in the computer, counsels patients on fluid weight gains, oversees the treatments ususally.
Please see my post in the thread Acute/Chronic for more info.
Some units have two "shifts" of patients some have three. The day can start at 0500 and end at 1700 or it can last until 2300 or later. Just depends on the size of the unit and the patient population.
There are nocturnal programs . Again my other posts mentions them
I am a traveling chronic hemodialysis nurse. I've worked in units as small as 11 stations and as large as 38 stations. I've also worked in acutes but very rarely and briefly. I can do them. I just find them boring as I'm used to a heavier load. I've worked mostly outpatient hemo but have worked in a couple of in hospital chronic units. I've worked in 10 states in the last 3.5 years.
Chronic nurses might take call for the acute program just depends again on size and requirments of that particular dialysis unit.
As chronic nurses we don't work Sundays except around Christmas and T-day when Christmas falls on a weekday..
Good IV skills are a define plus although sticking a fistula or graft is different. We used 15 gauge needles.. Yikes. I'm a firm believer in a year of med/surg experience. It gives you good priority setting skills, helps you learn to see the big picture, gets you used to taking care of more than 2 patients. Can a new grad do this, probably but I'd suggest a year of med/surg. Again some units want ICU experience. IMHO ICU experience doesn't help that much in a dialysis unit. It is just too busy with too many patient's for an ICU to feel comfortable. Now I'm not bashing ICU nurses. They are great nurses, outpatient chronic hemodialysis just too busy and fast for most of them.

-Midget- · Mar 4, 2006

Thank you for all the information! I am very interested in travel nursing, so it's nice to hear what specialties present good oppurtunities for travelling. Dialysis sounds like a pretty involved process. What does cp and n/v mean? :)

NephroBSN, BSN, RN · Mar 5, 2006

Thank you for all the information! I am very interested in travel nursing, so it's nice to hear what specialties present good oppurtunities for travelling. Dialysis sounds like a pretty involved process. What does cp and n/v mean? :)

cp= chest pain

n/v= nausea/vomiting.

Pretty common abreviations but if you haven't seem them before how would you know. Us old nurses have to conserve energy ya know..LOL

-Midget- · Mar 5, 2006

LOL...you guys teach me something new everyday! Thanks for the explanation. :)