Washington University Nurse Describes COVID-19 Challenges in Kidney Dialysis Center | Health

Karen Kirk’s job as a renal nurse requires that she take further precautions to take care of weak sufferers with failing kidneys.

“I do know dialysis doesn’t have the joy of the ER [or the] ICU, however our sufferers rely on us to assist maintain their life,” she says. “Our sufferers must have dialysis remedy thrice each week. We turn into very connected, and we all know how weak they’re, particularly now.”

Kirk works at Washington College’s Forest Park Dialysis Heart, the place life has definitely modified for many who work and search remedy there because the coronavirus appeared. Ladue Information requested her about how issues have modified and what encourages her to maintain going.

Examine a day in your life as a renal nurse earlier than the coronavirus reached Missouri to at this time. What has the pandemic modified about your work, and what has stayed the identical?

As a dialysis unit, we’ve all the time thought of disinfecting a precedence. Now, further steps are taken to make sure security for the sufferers and workers – whereas earlier than, sufferers would enter the unit from the foyer and weigh, write down their weight and return to the foyer. Now sufferers are met earlier than coming into the foyer to obtain a masks, cleanse arms with sanitizer, have [their] temperature taken and requested pertinent questions on how they’re feeling. They’re then seated at the very least 6 ft aside and await their flip for remedy.

We now have isolation areas for any affected person who has had any contact with a contaminated individual or if any signs are suspicious. For energetic COVID-19 sufferers, we are actually utilizing a separate room for his or her remedy. Now we have been carrying further PPE [personal protective equipment] with the onset of the virus to make sure further precautions. We now put on face shields [to protect from] potential blood or respiratory droplets, surgical face masks always and robes always.