The Dear Doctor column provides readers with an opportunity to submit renal related health questions to healthcare professionals who specialize in the area of concern. The answers are not to be construed as a diagnosis and therefore, altercations in current healthcare should not occur until the patient's physician is consulted. A. Certainly not by covering one's head and falling asleep and trying to shut out the world of the dialysis unit.
Alert patients have a number of legitimate concerns about safety in the dialysis unit.
Many of these concerns revolve around the sufficient number and experience of the personnel caring for patients in the unit. Patients are worried that too few or too inexperienced staff members may not have time to be attentive to safety concerns and other patient needs, such as medications or familiarity with the dialysis machines or clean and proper needle insertion. Proper functioning of the dialysis machines is another concern. Frequent equipment breakdown can be frightening. Problems with losing the fluid gained to dry weight can leave one at risk for pulmonary edema and heart failure before the next treatment.