Access on right...machine on left

[dmapp63, MSN, RN]

Hi all

Looking for some input ... do you move the dialysis machine to the side of the patient's access? Or do you "drape" the lines across the patient?

Thanks in advance

[Chisca, RN]

Try to have it on the side of the patient's access because the tubing only reaches so far and I don't like it across the patient. However a portable RO machine has to be connected to the water box in the room so many times you just can't place the machine on the same side as the access. Plumbing connections come first.

[westieluv]

Agreeing with Chisca. In a perfect world the machine would be snugged up next to a patient's access, but in the real world, without water it would be pretty pointless, so yes, the plumbing connection wins. If the lines have to be draped across the patient, then it's always a bonus when they are alert and oriented and/or sleeping.

[dmapp63, MSN, RN]

So, in a busy outpatient unit you take the time and exert the energy to move a machine to the "other" side if the next patient's access location requires it?

[westieluv]

I don't work outpatient, I work acutes in five different hospitals where the water connections vary by the patient's room. In some we hook up to the bathroom sink, in some we have a water box in the wall, etc.