Teaching Peritoneal Dialysis

[reeniedoc]

Hello

I am a hospital based nurse educator and the medical/surgical nures need to learn Peritoneal Dialysis. The only problem with this is the nurses will be taught how to perform the skill and they may not see a patient for a few months.

On our other medical units, they may see Pd patients every 3-5 months and the nurses have to relearn the skill every time a new patient comes in. A lot of our patients cannot do the PD themselves.

Do others have this issue, and if so, how do you handle this high risk, low frequency skill?

Thank you!!

[Psychcns]

Have them perform the competency quarterly or when a new pt comes. Maybe there is a way it can be done on a dummy like CPR.

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

PD is a skill that must be kept up like CPR - however due to the sterility of the procedure as well as the tech aspects, it is not something you can just do competencies on once in awhile. Suggestions:

1. Cohort all PD pts in one unit so that the nurses would have a better chance of providing more frequent care for PD pts

2. Have dialysis nurses care for the PD pts (maybe problematic)

[reeniedoc]

Thank you for your feedback. We are going to have some "super users" which means we will have nurses who are very comfortable with the procedure care for these patients. I will first teach all nurses involved and then review the procedure when we get a patient.

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

That sounds like a solid plan. What kind of resources will you have for your "superusers". At least in my area, PD is run by either Davita or Fresenius so they are on contract to the hospital, not hospital employees. There is always a PD RN on call who can at least answer questions over the phone and are required to come in when necessary - maybe use this as your back-up?

[reeniedoc]

Hi

We use Baxter products....I can ask if they provide that kind of support. Good to know about this!

We usually have a nurse or 2 on the medical unit who can come and assist if needed.

Thank you for your feedback

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

Sorry I wasn't clear - I don't mean an equipment rep like Baxter, I mean a dialysis company like Fresenius or Davita that provides acute hemodialysis in your hospital - they usually contract with your hospital also to provide on-call RN support.