About This Role
This nursing role involves direct responsibility for the care of chronic dialysis patients, with a focus on peritoneal dialysis. The nurse educates patients on managing their home dialysis and ensures their treatment remains on track, while also supervising caregivers and conducting patient assessments and care planning. This role suits a nurse committed to providing safe, effective, and compassionate care in accordance with regulations and company policies.
Responsibilities
- Provide clinical support to peritoneal dialysis patients
- Coordinate care related to peritoneal dialysis modalities, including patient training and education
- Complete intakes of new patients, including obtaining physician's orders, reviewing required paperwork (such as labs), assigning caregivers, and communicating with billing/insurance, warehouse, and pharmacy staff
- Perform and document pre, intra, and post-dialysis physical assessments of the patient's condition
- Coordinate, implement, evaluate, and document home dialysis care
- Review consent forms and physician's orders pre-treatment to ensure patient consent and appropriate therapy delivery
- Ensure that dialysis treatments are initiated, monitored, and terminated in accordance with clinic policies and procedures
- Administer medications by prescribed route and document administration and results
- Ensure that laboratory tests are obtained, documented, and reported as ordered
- Review monthly labs for patients; adjust epogen dosages according to protocol or physician order; communicate lab results to the patient's physician, patients, and caregivers
- Review incoming flowsheets for appropriateness of care, ensuring ordered prescription is delivered, monitoring patient weights and blood pressures, ensuring medications are administered timely and as ordered
- Provide ongoing training and feedback to direct caregivers
- Provide home dialysis treatments if staffing levels or emergencies arise
- Know and practice procedures related to hazardous waste disposal
- Be knowledgeable and able to implement appropriate emergency/disaster protocols
- Meet or provide for the emotional needs of patient and family as they confront the psychological impact of acute and/or chronic dialysis
- Partner with the Social Worker to facilitate patient's development of realistic attitudes and goals via understanding of the disease process
- Assess patient and family learning readiness
- Partner with the Dietician to teach patient and significant others about renal disease, dialysis treatment, and medical regimen and their impact on the patient's state of health and well-being
- Initiate and perform Basic Life Support for cardiopulmonary emergencies
