Forest Hill plans to accept residents who require in-house dialysis treatments
Wednesday, December 7, 2005 -- Natalie Miller
Forest Hill is aiming to have registered staff trained in a specialized treatment to support residents who have kidney failure in-house.

Sarah Ferguson-McLaren, director of care at the 156-bed Kanata long-term care home, says there’s a call for nursing homes in the Ottawa area to accept residents on peritoneal dialysis. She attended an information session in 2004 about peritoneal dialysis co-ordinated by area health care professionals and hosted by the local kidney foundation.

“The need is really there,” says Sarah.

“I think we will try and get on board with this. Certainly one of our goals for 2006 is to have staff trained on a particular unit so if we did admit someone we could offer consistency.”

A social worker in the nephrology department at Ottawa Hospital reports there are currently no long-term care homes in the city who accept residents who are on peritoneal dialysis. This type of dialysis is a procedure that removes wastes from the blood by pumping fluids into the abdomen and can be done at home with appropriate training. However, some seniors have other needs that require they enter long-term care but no homes in the city can take them. Seniors then have to switch to hemodialysis and the out-patient clinic at the hospital where they have to travel and spend hours connected to a machine.

“There is a great need,” says Julie Regimbald, social worker in nephrology at the Riverside campus of the Ottawa Hospital.

“We need a lot of long-term care homes to accept these clients,” says Julie. “We’ve been struggling with this for awhile.”

For a home to accept residents on peritoneal dialysis registered staff need between two and seven days of training. The training through the hospital is two days in length and can be done onsite at the long-term care home, says Jocelyne Lariviere, clinical manager for the home dialysis unit.

“Usually within two days nurses can safely dialyze a patient.”

A home must first agree to accept a resident on dialysis and then enroll for training, as it’s a skill that needs to be maintained, says Jocelyne. The Ottawa hospital provides additional support beyond the two days, she says. In addition to the specific dialysis treatment which takes about 30 minutes four to five times a day, the patient also requires a lot of evaluation – monitoring blood pressure and target weight and ensuring the lungs are clear of any fluids.

To find out more about peritoneal dialysis in long-term care, call Jocelyne at 613-738-8400 ext. 82508 or Monique Benard at ext. 82757.