Dialysis Shift Change Chaos

[CarlLewisB]

How can shift change in dialysis units be made less stressful and less chaotic?

Some clinics seem to have no limit as too how many patients a PCT can be responsible for at one time. The decrease in the amount Medicare is paying means that the staffing is not going to get better. At shift change some patients start cramping or their BP drops. Others let go of the needle site too soon and they start bleeding. Some have made an appointment somewhere and expect the nurse or PCT to ignore everyone else and get them off. Some clinics have nurses that will not help PCT's put on or take off patients. The increase in documentation and new rules slow down the PCT's and nurses.(some or many policies are ignored to save time, I guess. ANY SUGGESTIONS to save time? There is an old article on this website called: "Help, Shift change is killing us!"

[Marshall1]

I have no advice but will say this about one thing you wrote...if a patient makes another appt. that is close to their dialysis time (or any other medical procedure time not just a dialysis patient) then in my humble opinion that is THEIR problem - not the nurses or aides or doctors or techs so that is on them. I worked in a clinic where certain patients would do this knowing they had to stay for a certain amount of time after an injection was given..this was not new to them - they would complain, I would basically ignore their complaints or kindly remind them they made the schedule - not me. Impatient patients shouldn't be moved to the head of the line and others made to wait for something that is controllable from their end.

[ausrnurse]

It will never happen but the patient schedule should be made so that you actually have time to get one group of patients off, tidy up and get ready for the next group before you have to put them on, rather than scheduling the patients so the seat is still warm by the time the next patient is sitting in it.