North Dakota

Clinical nurse specialists who choose to specialize in caring for clients with kidney disease are also known as nephrology nurses. Registered nurses must successfully complete a master degree in nursing at an accredited college or university to become clinical nurse specialists.

After they graduate, nephrology clinical nurse specialists find jobs in a hospital's intensive or acute care units, private dialysis centers and clinics, or in colleges and universities. Due to their extensive education and training, many clinical nurse specialists choose to become nurse educators. Making the public aware about kidney disease and getting involved in outreach efforts to prevent and manage renal disease is one of the primary roles of a nephrology nurse educator. Education and knowledge is shared with other healthcare professionals, with patients, and with the general public in hospitals, dialysis units and academia centers.

Nephrology nurse educators are known to teach about renal disease, its prevention, diagnosis, and treatment at meetings for local support groups focusing on diabetes and other chronic diseases. In addition to teaching, a nurse educator's responsibilities include: reviewing studies and medical literature, updating the unit or center's policies and procedures, and planning unique ways to educate others.