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Anticoagulation and Heparin Administration

For healthcare professionals working in any setting, the needs and safety of the patient constitute the primary priorities. Dialysis patients, in particular, have numerous needs because of their renal failure an the sheer necessity of regular treatment. Anticoagulation is one of these special needs in which all healthcare professionals should be well versed. Once the blood leaves the body, it tends to clot very quickly. Clotting is the body's normal response to the blood coming in contact with something other than the normal intact blood vessel. The goal of clotting is to stop the bleeding making this mechanism vital to preserving life. But clotting can't happen during the dialysis treatments, so anticoagulation drugs must be administered to prevent the process.

To this end, this resource addresses the use of anticoagulants during dialysis as well as the healthcare professional's role in the administration of the most commonly used anticoagulants: Heparin.

After completing this resource, learners will be able to:

  • Describe the purpose of an anticoagulant in hemodialysis treatment
  • Describe heparin and its various types
  • Identify heparin dosage, uses, and laboratory tests
  • Identify the needles and equipment used for cannulation and proper needle placement
Patient and Machine Monitoring and Assessment

One of the most important jobs for healthcare professionals working in dialysis is to monitor the patient and the dialysis equipment. For this reason, it is imperative to understand the scope of practice of healthcare professionals in your state as well as how they are supervised with respect to dialysis. this information is described by the Nurse Practice Acts. In some states, for instance, dialysis technicians can perform certain tasks such as infusing normal saline intravenously for priming and managing hypotension, injecting intradermal lidocaine before insertion of the dialysis needles in the vascular access and administering intravenous heparin for anticoagulation.

This resource walks through the complications that can arise during a treatment and the steps required to finalize the treatment, as well as the information necessary for proper documentation.

After completing this resource, learners will be able to:

  • Recognize the clinical complications that can arise during dialysis
  • Explain the technician's role in helping to alleviate any complications
  • Describe intradialytic assessment and patient monitoring
  • Discuss the process of discontinuation of dialysis
Dialysis Laboratory Data: Analysis and Interpretation

Because of their unique condition, dialysis patients require care from professionals with an understanding of common blood tests necessary for proper patient care. This resource offers a look at the most common blood tests performed for ESRD patients. Healthcare professionals working with dialysis patients must have a firm grasp on what these tests are, the acceptable values for dialysis patients and what an abnormal value can indicate.

This resource walk through explaining these tests and the results to patients to help them understand how to manage their dialysis therapy..

After completing this resource, learners will be able to:

  • List the most common blood tests performed for ESRD patients, including the reason that each test is performed
  • Identify the normal adult values and the desired values for adults on dialysis
  • Explain the possible causes of abnormal values
  • Describe the technician's role in the manifestations
Peritoneal Dialysis and Home Dialysis Therapy

For chronic kidney disease patients, visits to a dialysis center 3 times a week becomes routine - even for 4 plus hours of treatment. As you can imagine, the amount of time spent at these clinics is terribly inconvenient. For this reason, peritoneal dialysis (PD) became a widely accepted dialysis therapy that, today, most patients can undergo at home. PD is now the most common at-home dialysis therapy used. All healthcare professionals, particularly home healthcare aides and assisted living aides should understand PD therapy in order to best care for their patients. However, some patients don't qualify for this type of at-home therapy, in which case there are a number of options for PD therapy that would work best for the patient.

This resource takes students through the ins and outs of all of these therapies, the equipment involved and caring for patients using different therapies.

After completing this resource, learners will be able to:

  • Describe peritoneal dialysis and its benefits
  • Identify characteristics of patients who qualify for peritoneal dialysis
  • Differentiate between the types of peritoneal dialysis therapies
  • List the equipment needed for peritoneal dialysis
  • Explain how to care for a peritoneal dialysis patient
Basic Chemistry of Body Fluids and Electrolytes

Functioning kidneys create a balance between the body and the substances within it. For patients with kidney failure, dialysis replaces these functions. In order to completely understand the dialysis process, it is important to understand body chemistry, the processes involved, and the types of substances within the body.

This resource covers basic chemistry, the body’s fluids, the electrolytes of the body, and the processes of osmosis and diffusion

After completing this resource, learners will be able to:

  • Complete basic metric to English and English to metric conversions
  • Differentiate the basic principles of diffusion, filtration, ultrafiltration, convection, and osmosis
  • Explain the role of electrolytes in fluid balance and homeostasis
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