Why Dialysis Nursing is Better at Dialyze Direct
04/22/2023 | Susan Markovich, MBA, RN, CNN, Senior Vice President of Clinical Services
With the difficulties faced in providing care during the COVID-19 pandemic, many nurses have faced burnout and challenges in maintaining work-life balance, especially as staffing shortages have affected many organizations. This has led to increased interest in finding novel and rewarding approaches to practicing nursing in a post-pandemic world.
Dialyze Direct has had the opportunity to shine in this environment, as a source of a unique nursing role for experienced dialysis nurses that is unlike others. Being a nurse with Dialyze Direct is not just a chance to be on the forefront of a growing specialty in healthcare; it also offers nurses an opportunity to advance their skill set in a new modality of care that positively impacts the patients they treat.
If you’re a nurse looking for an exciting challenge, a change of pace, and better work-life balance in a healthcare setting that values your experience and skills in dialysis nursing, you’ll be interested to learn more about a career with Dialyze Direct.
Dialyze Direct nurses: on the leading edge of healthcare
Dialyze Direct’s primary modality of care involves bringing treatment to an underserved population of frail, often medically complex patients residing in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). Rather than sending these patients to lengthy treatment at outpatient facilities three times weekly, Dialyze Direct offers more frequent dialysis (MFD) in short treatment sessions five days per week onsite at the SNF (pursuant to a physician’s order).
MFD has been shown to be gentler, with shorter recovery times for these patients. To deliver these treatments, Dialyze Direct nurses use the NxStage system, and receive specialized training on this modality and equipment.
Dialyze Direct nurses: impacting patients’ lives for the better
Patients who need skilled nursing care and rehabilitation often fall into a category of subacute care needs. When these same patients are referred for outpatient hemodialysis, it places a great burden on those who are already struggling to recover from serious illness and have underlying chronic medical concerns beyond end-stage kidney disease.
Dialyze Direct nurses manage a smaller contingent of patients than would typically be expected in an outpatient setting. Rather than 30-40 patients per shift being the norm in an outpatient setting, a Dialyze Direct nurse can expect a treatment den with six chairs on average and a highly trained patient care technician (PCT) working with them to provide more personalized care to this population of patients. In instances where a Dialyze Direct den has more than six treatment chairs, additional PCTs (or LVNs in the state of TX) are added. In the course of a shift, this means far fewer patients than a traditional dialysis setting, resulting in more individualized and specialized care.
Dialyze Direct patients who receive MFD experience recovery times of less than two hours, without the added stress and time devoted to transportation to and from treatment. They finish their treatment and can immediately return to their room, with less disruption of routines like meals and medications. Ultimately, this also results in a better ability to participate in rehabilitation and other activities at the SNF, instead of skipping them due to fatigue and hemodialysis side effects.
Better work-life balance for Dialyze Direct nurses
Along with the benefit of a smaller nurse-patient ratio, nurses working with Dialyze Direct typically expect a five-day work week with shorter shifts (8.5-9 hours) than would usually be the case for an outpatient dialysis center.
In Dialyze Direct facilities where conventional dialysis is also offered onsite, nurses can expect a three-day work week and ten-hour shifts. In most cases, nurses do not typically work weekend shifts, another added bonus.
PCTs are responsible for getting patients set up on the dialysis machines for their sessions, and providing direct patient care, while nurses focus on assessments, lab results, medications, and other nursing tasks. This results in more time spent with patients, rather than a high-volume arrangement that leaves nurses feeling they are not able to provide dedicated care to each patient.
Experience the Dialyze Difference as a nurse
The combined effect of improved work-life balance, advancing nursing skills in an innovative environment, and the ability to positively impact patients’ lives makes a career move to Dialyze Direct a rewarding experience. If you’re interested in joining our team, you can browse available jobs here https://www.dialyzedirect.com/ddjobs/ or fill out our form at https://www.dialyzedirect.com/contact/ for more info.
About the Author
Susan Markovich, MBA, RN, CNN is a certified nephrology nurse with more than 40 years’ experience in both critical care and nephrology. As Senior Vice President of Clinical Services at Dialyze Direct, she leads a workforce of regional managers, educators, and clinical services teams across multiple states and locations. Susan is closely involved in the mentorship and development of both clinical and non-clinical personnel and enjoys sharing her knowledge of nephrology nursing with others seeking to improve the lives of patients.