julesd

Thank you so much for the informtion - this is a wonerful site! I appreciate your time and assistance!

thank you for response! He is on cardiac meds (right off hand do not recall all involved). Manually I have gotten him low 80's / 40's and he is asymptomatic (he states). With that said, is there a "magic #" that is too low to be pulling fluid off a patient? Both of our charge nurses have stated they feel comfortable running pt's 80's/40's. Again any response is GREATLY appreciated.

I am new to dialysis (1 year now) and have found myself having to rely on the techs for information. I feel my orientation was NOT adequate - especially learing the machine (alarms, recircing pts, troubleshooting). The problem is that many of the techs are not as willing to help a new RN learn. As sad as this sounds, some techs seem to get a chuckle seeing the nurses struggle trying to trouble shoot machines, access problems, etc.... I have heard that many of these techs ave a "chip on their shoulder" for being paid less? I am looking to transfer to acutes but question if I have enough knowledge base to be on my own? The techs where I work do most of the recircing when pt's have to get to the bathroom..........I am comfortable putting pt's on and taking off, but still not 100% sure with maching alarms, recircing etc....... Is it feasible to transfer to acutes with being unsure yet in the chronic setting??? I am so willing to learn - I just need a reliable source to give me the information that I need to do my job. I have been offered a position in acutes, but since I have one year experience in dialysis, they are only giving me only a 2 week orientation. Any advice is appreciated!!:heartbeat

I am new to dialysis (1 year now) and have found myself having to rely on the techs for information. The problem is that many of them are not as willing to help a RN learn (as many have a "chip on their shoulder" for being paid less). I am looking to transfer to acutes, but question if I have enough knowledge base to be on my own? The techs where I work do most of the recircing when pt's have to get to the bathroom..........I am comfortable putting pt's on and taking off, but still not 100% sure with maching alarms, etc....... Is it feasible to transfer to acutes with being unsure yet in the chronic setting???

I feel silly asking this, but cannot seem to get an anwser when I have approached the charge nurses at my dialysis place of work (chronics). I am a RN with no prior dialysis experience and have NOT had the best orientation to dialysis. I feel like I am learning by trial and error. My question is at what point is it unsafe (with low BP) to run a patient in a chronic setting. We have a man that typically comes in high 80's/50's. His BFR is typically set at 400 (takes off 5 kilos), and he always drops 70's/40's and even as low as 68/39! He was angry with me for putting him into minimum and refused any saline. He sates he is "fine" and "dont touch me anymore". He does have +1/+2 trace pitting edema to LE's. I understand he is chronically low with BP, but at what point am I to worry about perfusing other internal organs (lack there of). Our protocal also is to leave with a systolic > 100 - this never happens with him. Is it safe to run patients with BP's in the 70's - still pulling fluid? ANY help is appreciated!!!! thanks:nurse: