How much lifting in Dialysis?

Specialties Urology

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I hurt my back working as an OR nurse and I am looking for a job that does not involve lifting 350 lb plus patients like we do positioning patients for surgery. My FCE cleared for medium duty. How much lifting does Dialysis involve?

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Specializes in Dialysis.

I can only speak to acute dialysis in a hospital setting. Not much lifting of patients but a lot of pushing dialysis machines to patients rooms, bending down and sideways to make water connections, turning patients if asked by the ICU nurse. I would recommend shadowing a dialysis nurse if you work in a hospital and it would satisfy your curiosity.

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also lifting jugs containing gallons of fluids

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Specializes in Home Health (PDN), Camp Nursing.

As for out patient. When I was an EMT doing routine transports I remember schlepping many a wide body into the centers, and they had to get from my litter to the chair usually just with man power.

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Specializes in Nephrology, Dialysis, Plasmapheresis.

I recently had a coworker that left because of back problems. I would say probably not good. Acute dialysis involves pushing and moving equipment and setting up, bending over a lot, unpacking supplies, carrying jugs. Chronic dialysis is all day on your feet, lots of branding over to assess patients. They aren't in normal beds so you can't adjust their height. It is certainly a physically demanding job, despite what many think when they see us sitting down monitoring a treatment. I come home physically exhausted and I am in fairly good shape and young.

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Specializes in Nephrology, Dialysis, Plasmapheresis.

If you can get into education or peritoneal dialysis training that might be good. What about case management?

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I hurt my back working as an OR nurse and I am looking for a job that does not involve lifting 350 lb plus patients like we do positioning patients for surgery. My FCE cleared for medium duty. How much lifting does Dialysis involve?

Chronic dialysis: constant bending over as pat sits in recliner chairs that can't be adjusted in height. Even if you sit down to insert the needles, there is still a lot of bending. In addition you need to clean chairs/machines. There is potential for lifting bags if you are mixing baths.

Acute dialysis: Pulling and pushing of heavy machines, lifting gallons of fluids.

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