Certified dialysis nurse is one of the fastest growing nursing specialties in the United States and should continue to be one of the best nursing specialties in regard to salaries and job prospects for quite some time. A certified dialysis nurse (CDN) works with people who have lost the use of their kidneys and must rely on dialysis machines to artificially eliminate waste products from the blood. Many CDNs work in hospitals, while many others work in dialysis clinics, which focus solely on this medical need. A CDN should not be confused with a nephrology nurse; while the field of nephrology revolves around the kidneys, it encompasses more than just dialysis. A CDN focuses strictly on dialysis.
As dialysis is a nursing specialty, a person must first become a registered nurse in order to become a certified dialysis nurse; LVNs and LPNs are not eligible for CDN specialization. Additionally, the prospective CDN must have worked at least 2000 hours taking care of nephrology and dialysis patients in the past two years. Fifteen hours of continuing education credits in nephrology during the last two years are also required. Finally, the last step for any nurse seeking to become a certified dialysis nurse is to take and pass the official certification test. Failure to pass the CDN exam will prevent the candidate from becoming a CDN. The certification dialysis nurse exam is a very difficult test to pass. There are 200 questions which must be answered in no more than four hours, and a passing score requires getting around three quarters of the answers correct.
The CDN exam is a major hurdle for most people seeking to work as a CDN. Many nurses make the mistake of thinking they do not need to study for the exam because they work in the field every day, but that is not the case. Many questions on the test will cover theory and principles that a dialysis nurse may not have encountered in months. For this reason, along with the high cost of having to retake the test, it is recommended that all prospective CDNs obtain a good study guide several weeks or months before taking the certified dialysis nurse test and spend an hour or two a night studying it. That is the best way to maximize your chances of passing the test and entering into this lucrative and rewarding nursing specialty.
If you are in the process of preparing to become a Certified Dialysis Nurse CDN, you may want to consider using either a CDN test study guide or CDN test flashcards to understand the basic concepts or what will be covered on the CDN test review. The important thing in a CDN Adult Study Guide is to avoid procrastinating about studying for the CDN test until the last minute.
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