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Dialysis Nurse - Career Profile |
Career OverviewNursing constitutes the caring for and treating of patients with definite or possible health problems, whether they are injuries or diseases. In one way or another, nurses are responsible for the general well-being of patients, whether they are involved directly in patient care or whether they work indirectly, in administrative positions, for example, to improve the quality of patient care.
A dialysis nurse is a practicing nurse with specialist training and certification to care for patients with acute or chronic kidney failure. Typically, a dialysis nurse provides treatment for various forms of kidney failure, which usually make a complex presentation.
Dialysis nurses are specially trained to diagnose and treat forms of kidney failure. They are trained to administer blood product transfusions, to reduce elevated electrolytes with forms of dialysis such as hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis. A dialysis nurse also has the knowledge to monitor vital signs specific to patients with kidney failure and to interpret results of laboratory-performed tests.
Central to the role of a dialysis nurse is an understanding of the role of the kidneys in maintaining health. The kidneys are organs vital to bodily function because they are responsible, when functioning normally, for filtering the blood content.
The kidneys are responsible for monitoring the levels of waste products in the blood, for example. They are the organs responsible for the removal of urea, excess water, and additional toxins from the blood, which is a process vital to the maintenance of general health.
Only with regular treatment can patients suffering from kidney failure continue to function without a kidney transplant, which requires the identification of a suitable donor; it is this regular treatment that dialysis nurses are required to perform, whether in a hospital setting, in a specialist clinic, or in a home setting.
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Career RequirementsDialysis nurses are specially trained to diagnose and treat patients with kidney failure of various types. They have general training as nurses to begin with, but this is complimented by additional certification in dialysis nursing.
Most dialysis nurses have a four-year Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing and substantial clinical experience. In addition to this grounding, they then have special training in dialysis nursing, which was usually obtained in conjunction with certification.
To practice, dialysis nurses must pass the nationwide exam to obtain their license as a Registered Nurse. Their license must be current for them to practice legally as nurses and additional state requirements, if any, must also be met.
The specialist knowledge and training of dialysis nurses centers around the diagnosis, treatment, and management of patients with chronic or acute kidneys failure. This necessarily includes knowledge of dialysis treatment and transplant procedure.
The American Nurses Credentialing Center awards licenses to qualified dialysis nurses and is the official source for more information about finding an accredited training course. Contact information features below.
American Nurses Credentialing Center
600 Maryland Ave., SW, Suite 100 West
Washington, D.C. 20024-2571
(800) 284-2378
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Job OutlookDialysis nurses have specialist training and credentials that allow them to take on an important roles in the field of medicine: the management of patients with kidney disease that is results in kidney failure.
How each individual nurse choose to apply their specialist knowledge is one thing. Their education and training in nursing and in the treatment of patients with kidney failure prepares them well for a career track in a variety of positions and areas. They can choose to practice day-to-day, in hospitals. They can work in other special medical centers where dialysis is performed. They can work with patients in a home setting.
Otherwise, dialysis nurses can work in administrative positions, as policy-makers and consultants on the best practices and treatment planning for patients with kidney failure.
They can also find positions as educators, training other nurses and medical personnel to treat dialysis patients and diagnose kidney failure in others. They can also work to prevent kidney failure by providing outreach education to communities and promoting a healthy approach to living amongst those who are at risk for kidney failure because of their lifestyles.
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Career TrackIn the next decade, nursing will be one of the top 10 fastest growing professions in the United States according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The future looks bright in the nursing field, with the number of jobs for registered nurses expected to increase at a rate far greater than that of most other jobs in the next couple of years.
Over the next decade or so, the nursing profession is expected to change as well. Nearly one out of every eight Americans is over 65 years of age and the size of the elderly population looks set to double by 2050, according to the US Census Bureau. Nurses specializing in the treatment of conditions that affect the elderly population, and this includes kidney failure, will be in particular demand.
Hospitals are constantly downsizing, cutting back on the number of general staff, and reducing the time of patients' stay as well, so at home patient care is likely to be the standard practice for nurses in the not too distant future.
There has also been some discussion about dividing the field of nursing into professional nurses and technical nurses. This will distinguish between those who have four-year degrees and those who have associate degrees. Dialysis nurses with four-year degrees and additional training and certification will likely be more secure in the job market if such a distinction occurs.
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CompensationAlthough compensation for varies considerably, depending on the type of work that they do and where they work, the annual pay is generally above that of a nursing practitioner working in the same type of situation and is of the range of $52,000 to $66,000.
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