Why would anybody want to go into hemo-dialysis to begin with? Dialysis nursing has a bad reputation but the fact of the matter is it is a focused subject matter profession in the vast world of nursing. Yes you do deal with a blood(a lot of it) but you do not ever come into direct contact with it. Yes the treatments are long per patient and you cannot leave the room but you also converse with the patient the whole time(or cautiously play on your phone).
Let’s go over some typical day routines:
A typical shift includes a nurse grabbing materials from the designated storage area, bringing the dialysis machine to the patient’s room, performing safety, operating the machine, connecting the patient, monitoring the patient, and returning the blood. Each patient typically takes about 4-5 hours and there is charting involved every 15 or so minutes.
The end result? The patient feels much better to have toxic fluid removed and typically breathe better, weigh less and are edematous.
Dialysis Fact Vs Fiction:
Fact – Acute dialysis is a fast growing field of nursing due to diabetes and pays well
Fact – Your responsibility is dialysis, the primary nurse deals with the other medications and patient care
Fiction – You’re stuck doing dialysis your whole life! Not exactly, there are different modalities with dialysis including hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, apheresis, or continuous renal replacement therapy(CRRT). Secondly, you’re still in an acute care setting and can learn bedside nursing from the many other units.
Fiction – The machine is hard to operate. Perhaps, the truth of the matter is, you only need to learn the machine one time and the company will make sure you are ready before releasing you.