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The major objective of the Education Task Force was to develop a plan to create linkages between schools of nursing and hemodialysis settings to increase student nurses’ knowledge of and experiences in nephrology nursing. The rationale for this objective was that student nurse experiences in hemodialysis settings create opportunities for students to see nephrology nurses in action and pique their interest in pursuing jobs in dialysis settings after completion of their nursing programs. Traditionally, student nurses do not spend extended clinical experiences in dialysis settings. Additionally, dialysis units in the past have required a period of medical-surgical nursing or intensive care nursing experiences for employment in dialysis units.

The committee developed three documents that can serve as templates for providers of dialysis services and ANNA Chapters to encourage student nurse experiences in dialysis settings and the entry of newly graduated nurses in dialysis settings: (1) an invitation letter to schools of nursing that encourages the use of dialysis settings for student nurse clinical experiences; (2) a student nurse externship program; and (3) a nurse internship program. These templates can be used by providers of hemodialysis services who are interested in student nurse experiences in their dialysis units, creation of student nurse externship programs; or developing an orientation program that is tailored to the role of the professional nurse in dialysis settings.                                                                                     

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