Do you like your dialysis nurse?....I just want to know if they are nice to you?

[angela515]

Most dialysis nurse's just consider what they do their job, no need for person connections with patients.

I find this to be true with some Techs BUT there are some techs (and Thank God for them) that truly care about you and not only talk to the patients but listen as well.  I think alot has to do with the way the patient treats them (the techs) also.  IMO 

Very true. I think certain jobs require you to be a little social and have a personal connection with people and should be considered before going into that field, ya know?

[RichardMEL]

Sorry glitter & angela but I am glad I am not in your units... the nurses in my unit do care and always chat (if you want and they have time)... I certainly don't feel like a number when I am there.. plus it is great when I walk in and they greet me by name eg "Hi Richard! You're in number 5 today" or whatever. I think it would suck to be in a place where it wasn't like that.. Maybe it happens with larger units with lots of spots and patients... ours is pretty small so i guess it is easier for them.

[George Jung]

There is one tech in my unit that I just don't like.  I am always overhearing her talk and complain about not wanting to be there.  "I'm ready to go."  "I need to get off the floor."  Complaining about this and that.  She sounds like some of my old employees (waiters and waitresses) that just always have something better to do than earning money.  Only difference is, my employees were mostly college kids who just want to earn some fun money (restaurants are great for that.) and this tech is actually a care giver for individuals who have to have it.  I think I should try to get her a job where I used to work.

[MattyBoy100]

I agree with RichardMEL,

my unit is basically the same and I enjoy chatting to all the staff.  I pretty much know all about their home - life and they know all about mine and all the other patients.  It helps the session go by quicker if you can chat to them and have a laugh.  They are even taking time out in my unit to teach me how to prime my machine and set it up, why?... coz I asked them to.

I bring them in a tin of chocolate every month as my way of saying thanks for all that they do for me.  You can argue they are only doing their job but if that's the case how come they know all about me and stop to chat to me???  I wouldn't ever wish to go to a different unit now as my one is GREAT and like RichardMEL, I love all the staff there.

[goofynina]

Mattyboy, consider yourself one of the lucky ones,  as you have read, there are many units that really dont take the time to know their patients, which is a shame cuz i think it would help their days go by a little better too.  Glad to hear your happy with yours and how thoughtful of you to take them chocolates each month, they are lucky to have you too.   

[angela515]

Sorry glitter & Angela but I am glad I am not in your units... the nurses in my unit do care and always chat (if you want and they have time)... I certainly don't feel like a number when I am there.. plus it is great when I walk in and they greet me by name eg "Hi Richard! You're in number 5 today" or whatever. I think it would suck to be in a place where it wasn't like that.. Maybe it happens with larger units with lots of spots and patients... ours is pretty small so i guess it is easier for them.

Richard, I'm not on dialysis, silly boy. 

I wasn't on hemo anyways when I was on dialysis, i was merely commenting on the subject of the topic.  I was saying that most tech's just consider there jobs as "jobs" and no need to be personal, and thats why they are the way they are... however I agree with you and I think they should be personal and a people person. 

[angela515]

You can argue they are only doing their job but if that's the case how come they know all about me and stop to chat to me??? 

Hun, I'm not arguing that,  I was commenting to another's person's post and offering them a reason as to why their nurse's weren't personable. 

[RichardMEL]

Well Angela you're not the first lady to say I am a silly boy, so I'll add you to the long list

I have taken chocolates for the staff.. more recently for Christmas I brought them a bunch of stuff from the Body Shop like hand creams etc.. Just the other week one of them commented to me how awesome it was and hos some visiting nurse was jealous they had this stuff for their hands that was so nice... so I felt pretty chuffed that i got something good for them to use that wasn't just candy!

[Duane]

Yes I do like my dialysis nurse. My nurse is on top of everyones charts and communicates professionally and personally with all of us there. Yes she is nice to all, yet i've been able to see she can have a attitude when a tech makes a mistake.

[carolyn77531]

I love my daughter's dialysis nurses..i have known them for about 15yrs

[jasperkat]

The staff in my husband's unit are very nice and friendly.  They chat with the patients and family members.  I am sure there are occasion when they wish I would drop off the face of the earth but they answer my questions and generally do what I ask.  I do wish that we had regular nurses assigned to patients but they seem to rotate shifts and patient assignments.  The manager and assist. manager are always available and they are always up to date on my husband's status.  All and all it is not a bad place to go -since he has to go.

[Duane]

At the center where i go 3 times a wk every employee says good morning to me when i arrive and says goodbye when i leave as i pass them

if you notice my picture, it's standing in front of a x-mass tree, well that tree was at the center, i brought my camera in that wk and took pic's.

Guess i've been blessed to have been referred by my neph to be at a strong up to date center that is also adding to the center a training school for tech's.

I keep before me my health pre-dialysis and the improvement post dialysis. My blood pressure stayed around 210/110 no lower than 195/90, PHT over 500, CHOLESTEROL over 400, albumin off the charts, the list goes on.

After my first wk i started seeing my ankles after 8yrs of swelling, had 17% of one kidney working.

And from day 1 i show my appreciation in my attitude, there attitude is one thing, a good attitude over powers a bad one every time. sometimes i had to set the stage and when it's a day when i'm not there, then the strongest with a good attitude can come along and change things for the better.

When i need something, i ask and it's there, sometimes they tell me no, i smile and say ok, when someone really cares and is trying, the answer won't always be yes.

i would be dead today if they were not there for me and i know it. i show it even on bad days when i get stuck the wrong way, i role with it because i know they care and they are trying to help me a stranger at first.

I love the entire staff for loving me first. there is a solution to every bad deed and that's a good one.
 

[livecam]

Star was loud and obnoxious, Lisa was a bitch plain and simple, Anna was ok, Joan was all business, Rudy was A-OK, and Kirsten was cute and sweet! 

[Duane]

My dialysis nurse is in the middle of this picture. My first tech. is on the right, my tech likes to be called "Addis" she's from Ethopia and I love her work, she also helps me with my diet, I'm learning to fast twice a week, veggies/fruits only for those two days. Addis (A-dees) she is so gentle and caring. I could go on all day about this tech and how special she is to the center.

[thegrammalady]

our current nurse is FANTASTIC but then we've had 5 since january 2006!! staffing is a bitch

[MyssAnne]

I do peritoneal dialysis, but i just wanted to say I really think a lot of my nurse. I can call her if I have any problems, she encourages me to call, and doesn't make me feel small if it turns out to not be serious, she'd rather I did, just in case! We've talked, and I feel I can be honest with her.  I have a lot of respect for her. 

[HappyPenguin]

Sadly there are nurses out there who are in nursing only for the pay. Even sadder, the nursing shortage make weeding these nurses out almost impossible.There are a few reasons for this:
- Payscale. A nurse can make more money in home health, hospitals, and even nursing homes than in dialysis. The biggest provider is currently increasing the pay for nurses, but not enough to compete with other agencies.
-Advertising. In nursing school, I learned nothing about dialysis. I mean NOTHING. It simply wasn't mentioned. Now they do a short rotation thru dialysis during their training, but nothing compared to OB, Med-Surg, Peds, etc. Without that initial exposure, nurses will not be interested enough to actually consider dialysis as a career.
-Specialization. Dialysis nursing is a specialty. You have to be trained to set up machines, care for accesses and catheters, make rounds with MD, etc.
-Depressing Events. Dialysis patients die. Hesitated to write this, but it is a consideration. Nurses make attatchments to patients and are affected by their deaths.
- Demanding patients. Dialysis patients are a rather demanding set. This is not placing blame on the patients. The average age of patients in my clinic is approx. 65. Old age, numerous underlying health problems, numerous social problems all add to various complications with patients.

LOL  Was gonna type some more, but just received a phone call to go bass fishing. Will help ya'll rant later. Honestly hope no one sees this as a post in defense of bad nurses. There is NO reason a nurse should treat anyone differently than they would have themselves, or even better, their family members treated.

[RichardMEL]

I'm going to put another vote in for Renal nurses. My lot are all really wonderful.. some moreso than others but in general I think, because our unit is pretty small... with a heap of inpatients, but a smallish group of outpatient "regulars" like me (there for over a year now, some others much longer)... and you really do become, well perhaps not part of their family, but pretty close.. I mean you spend 15 hours a week with these guys which is fairly significant. They have all been wonderful to everyone.

The other thing I wanted to say was last year when my mum was dying - and she spent the last 2 months of her life in various wards of the hospital... for the last 6 weeks or so she stayed in the respritory ward. Anyway some of the nurses there were very average... but there was one nurse there who went above and beyond.. spent time with mum AFTER her shift was done, brought in pictures of her cat for mum's wall because mum loves cats etc etc.... just one of those special really dedicated people.

Prior to working in that ward where did she come from? Yep, you guessed it.. Renal.

A special, special lady.

[kitkatz]

Last night i was truly irritated while at dialysis. It is the little things that can get to you after awhile in a dilaysis chair. It is not like I can get up and get the Tylenol I wanted for my headache.  I asked for it once with my tech.  I asked the nurse for it again.  It seems when she got on the phone with the doctor she forgot my Tylenol. I can be understanding to a point, but I cannot get up and get it myself, so I am stuck there literally.  I try to be patient, but come on folks, let's try.

[goofynina]

Kit, you should take some paper and a straw and make spit wads and shoot them across the room, i am sure that will get their attention   Just my 

[kitkatz]

I sit in the front row of the center facing the door. Just who am I to spit the wads at?  Some days it feels like we are on exhibition at the door.  Maybe it would get me attention if I blew a spit wad at eveyone who came in the door...hmmm...Something to think about....

[Jannie]

I have two nurses I really like. One is a nurse practitioner in my Neph's office. She is always cheerful and friendly. She calls me "kid" even though I'm 55 years old. She always tells me the truth. Her name is Carol.  And there's a nurse at the Dialysis Center who is really nice to me. She is extra-careful when she cannulates me, she is very friendly, she comes in and chats with me about anything and everything. Today she pulled a joke on me. She got the first needle in with a little pain, the second just slid in like butter. She told me "It's not even in" I looked at my arm and it was in. So I called her a witch with a B. I smiled when I said it and she got the joke. It was my husband's birthday today and she wished him a happy day. She's a sweetheart. I only wish she was there every day. She's off for a few days. I'll be g;ad when she's back on regular schedule.

[Kitsune]

First, techs who are permitted to cannulate me because they know what they are doing: Tracy's cool and funny and really knows her job, Pat D is friendly but business-like and also knows her job very well, Erica is great at her job  and is about my age and actually talks to me like I have a brain and encourages me to ask questions, Ana is good with needles but low on patience as she screams, "Hurry up!! I have other patients!!"  when I go to the bathroom before she sticks me because I make urine and don't run right to my chair like non-urinators do, and Dawn, who's only been doing this for a year but has talent and is very careful what she does, and is extremely friendly.

Now, techs who are not allowed to touch me, because they are incompetent or nervous or other bad things: Martha is a big fat, smelly, psychotic bitch who acts like she is the best tech there, even though she can't hit the broad side of a barn with a tractor  and even once tried to sexuallly abuse me. She also tries to argue with me when I tell her not to touch me...ever. Joey's nice, but seriously, who hired this guy? He has only been a tech for a year and acts like he is afraid to touch patients, for fear of hurting them , which he actually does in his quest not to. His heart is in the right place though, so I can't really fault him too much, but he's still not coming near me with anything sharp. Tasha is a nice enough girl (she's 3 years younger than I am), but she actually forgot to clamp me once, and I bled out, so I told her not to come near me (for my own safety), and Tanya, who's nice enough but far too new for me to trust her with my life like that .

Now, for nurses: Liz S. is a good nurse and friendly enough, Margie is good at her job, cool and jokes with me and gives me my Phenergan before I even ask because I during treatments and no one, especially me wants that,  Penny is really good at her job, nice and jokes with me when she interacts with me, and Pat S. is alright but not really too friendly, does her job though, so I can't really complain.

Doctors: Doctor M. is a self- aggrandizing idiot who says the same thing everytime he sees me, and tries to wake me during treatments when I am dead asleep to talk at me. He is in love with himself, I think. Also, he treats everyone like a textbook case.

[CatEars]

Shout out to my homeboy Kenny in the Westside  (west medical towers at Cedar Sini).  To Kimy Kim and G-Dog Hollaa!  Here's to keepin it real.  Peace out.     

[monrein]

My nurses are all fantastic and so far I have nothing but praise for the job they all do.  There's no one who isn't excellent with the needles and they are all caring, dedicated people.  I just wish I hung out with them under different circumstances. LOL.