Dialysis Technician Job Description
Dialysis Technician Job Description and Profile
Dialysis Technicians work for the well-being and health of patients or clients with kidney failure. They operate machines, which remove wastes, excess water, and salt from the blood of patient. A dialysis technician works for hospitals, physician offices, ambulatory services, and dialysis centers. They perform duties under the general supervision of registered nurses or physicians.
Duties and Responsibilities
- Observing, monitoring, and recording important signs during dialysis procedure, treatment.
- Assessing patients for any advance complications that occur during the dialysis procedure.
- Administering drugs and local anesthetic under the supervision of a physician.
- Setting and operating hemodialysis device for the provision of dialysis treatment for kidney failure patients.
- Transporting patient or client to dialysis room area and places patient on easy chair at hemodialysis machine.
- Taking necessary emergency measures, which include performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation or administering oxygen.
- Connecting machine to access patient’s catheter site or forearm to start blood diffusing through dialyzer.
- Taking and recording patient’s pre-dialysis blood pressure, weight, temperature, respiration rate, and pulse rate.
- Attaching tubing and dialyzer to machine in order to assemble for usage.
- Inspecting arterial and venous pressures as recorded on machine to ensure that pressures are within standard limits.
- Explaining operation of machine and dialysis procedure to patient before dialysis treatment to relieve anxieties.
- Inspecting equipment settings, including temperature, conductivity, and pressures to ensure compliance to safety standards.
- Cleaning area of access such as fistula, catheter, or graft using antiseptic solution.
Skills and Specifications
- Ability to control operations of systems or equipment.
- Ability to generate or adapt technology and equipment to serve patient needs.
- Ability to read, interpret and present information and ideas.
- Ability to organize actions or things in a proper order according to set of rules.
- Should be able to liaise efficaciously with all users.
Education and Qualifications
- High school diploma or equivalent in dialysis technology related field.
- Certification in dialysis technology from an accredited institution.