Taking oatmeal baths can help to calm the skin and alleviate itching if a patient complains of recurrent itching. Maintaining healthy skin moisture (with products like Aveeno® or Cetaphil®) may also be beneficial. For the majority of kidney dialysis users, itching is a concern. Patients who are itching should always be evaluated by the nurse. Hyperparathyroidism may cause itching, thus treating it may assist with symptoms. Phosphate binders could be helpful if the patient has too much phosphorus in their system.
Usually 8 to 10 consecutive cannulations are needed to establish a buttonhole tract before it is complete. It is crucial that the same individual do the cannulations throughout this development phase because doing so increases the likelihood that the same angle will be applied each time. Grafts cannot be operated on using the buttonhole technique because they lack the muscle fibers that constrict around the tract once the needle is removed.
Chloramine can be combined with ammonia to create a long-acting form of chlorine; it cannot be measured directly, but the chloramine level can be calculated by deducting the free chlorine from the total chlorine: If, when testing water for the level of chloramine, the technician finds that the total chlorine level is 1.1 parts per million (ppm) and the free chlorine level is 0.9 ppm, the chloramine level is 0.2 ppm. 1.1 - 0.9 is equal to 0.2 ppm, or 0.2 mg/L. The dialysis chloramine limit is 0.1 mg/L.
The tasks that the technician is permitted to perform are generally governed by state laws and professional norms of conduct. Despite the fact that trained technicians should get comparable training, several states forbid cannulating accesses and giving intravenous heparin to technicians. Always be aware of what is legal in the state where you are working, as a technician. Even if a state permits a technician to perform specific tasks (such giving heparin injections), a dialysis facility may further limit the technician's function.
When computerized charting is used at a dialysis facility, the technician shouldn't divulge their password to anyone. Each staff member who is permitted to access a patient's or patients' electronic health record should have their own password. According to the user's password, access to the records is electronically monitored. A staff member should never have access to the files of a patient for whom they are not providing care because doing so is against the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.
An increase in the dialyzer size because it promotes the clearance of waste products is the intervention that is most likely to improve hemodialysis effectiveness in patients who are very large in both stature and weight. Based on the patient's size and the recommended length of treatment, the nephrologist determines the size of the dialyzer. Increasing the length of treatment is another technique that can improve the efficacy of hemodialysis.
The required contact time for dialyzer reprocessing at a dialysis facility using peracetic acid as the germicide is 11 hours. There are four primary forms of germicides, but only one can be used at a time: heat disinfection (with citric acid) (20 hours contact time), glutaraldehyde (10 hours contact time), formaldehyde (24 hours contact time), and peracetic acid (most frequently used). Although peracetic acid is more expensive than the majority of other germicides, it is less dangerous for users than formaldehyde or glutaraldehyde.
