Dialysis nurses rely on their excellent interpersonal skills when working with patients and other professionals. Their natural empathy and compassion helps them to motivate their patients to stick with treatment and make necessary changes. Dialysis nurses also need to be team players who work well with people from many different disciplines.
Because they work long hours around very sick patients, dialysis nurses need excellent self-management skills. They must be emotionally mature and stable in order to support suffering patients without becoming overwhelmed themselves. To protect their own well-being, nurses should also practice good self-care, including exercise, nutrition, rest and additional support when needed.
Many dialysis patients suffer from additional chronic conditions, including heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and drug addiction. Dialysis nurses rely on their attention to detail and strong analytical skills in order to safely manage several conditions at once. This is especially true in the area of medication safety.