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Principles of Hemodialysis

When a patient's kidneys cease to function, waste products build up in the patient's blood, and extra fluid builds up in the cells and vascular system. The patients may also often have electrolyte imbalances. Dialysis is designed to do the job that the kidneys can no longer do: remove the waste products and excess fluid from the blood and maintain the patient's electrolyte balance.

This resource covers the basic principles of dialysis, including the way fluids are compartmentalized in the body; how diffusion works, and the factors that impact the rate of diffusion; how diffusion works in dialysis to clean the blood and the factors that impact the transfer rate of solutes from the blood to the dialysate; and finally, how pressure is used to control diffusion in dialysis, or ultrafiltration.

After completing this resource, learners will be able to:

  • List the fluid compartments in the body
  • Describe how fluids move among body compartments
  • Explain the role of diffusion in dialysis
  • Explain the role of filtration in dialysis
  • Differentiate between diffusion and convection
  • Discuss fluid dynamics in relation to dialysis
  • Explain the role of osmosis in dialysis
  • Describe how kidneys use diffusion and filtration to clean the blood
  • Describe how dialysis uses diffusion and filtration to mimic the kidneys
Dialysis and Water Treatment

Dialysis patients require care from professionals who have a number of different skills. One of the most important factors involved in dialysis treatment is the purity of the water used in the process. If there is any question as to the purity of the water, serious complications can result in the dialysis procedure delivered to the patient.

For healthcare professionals, it is essential to understand the key aspects surrounding water treatment in the dialysis unit and the potential problems that may arise. Additionally, dialysis facilities require the policies and procedures for water treatment which this resource will address alongside the various government regulations and related technologies associated with dialysis treatment.

After completing this resource, learners will be able to:

  • List water supply sources
  • Explain the importance of using only pure water in dialysis
  • List the components used in contaminant removal
  • Explain concepts including reverse osmosis, deionization, and UV treatment
  • Explain the design and construction of RO membranes
  • Explain labeling requirements for the various components of a water treatment system
  • List steps for monitoring and testing the water treatments system
  • Discuss reasons why patient monitoring is essential
Healthcare Facilities and Professionals

This resource provides an overview of the healthcare industry in terms of the numerous types of facilities available to serve patients and professionals who work within these facilities. Both facilities and professionals are guided by professional organizations designed to help set standards, provide information on best practices, monitor specialty areas, and provide many other services to healthcare workers and support the safety and quality of care for patients. Each patient generates a wealth of data that healthcare providers use in patient care, healthcare payers use in paying for services, and researchers use to study trends hopefully leading to improved care in the future. This data is gathered in the health record of the patient and then communicated to the various parties who use it.

The electronic health record facilitates this communication while at the same time has generated a new set of issues that must be considered and addressed. Let's begin the study of the electronic health record with a review of the healthcare industry in general.

After completing this resource, learners will be able to:

  • Identify the various organizations associated with the healthcare professions
  • Describe the roles of various healthcare professionals
  • Differentiate types of healthcare facilities
Functional EHR Systems

The EHR has many benefits over the paper patient chart. Not only does it hold all of the patient information, data, and records needed by providers to diagnose and treat the patient, its functionality is a benefit in itself. With the EHR, providers can easily find, share, and search patient records to meet unique needs. In order to achieve this functionality, the EHR must be formatted in very specific ways.  There are four functional benefits identified by the Institute of Medicine that EHRs facilitate: health maintenance, trend analysis, alerts, and decision support.

This resource discusses the ways that the medical record data is stored and how the form leads to the functional benefits. This content will show more of the EHR by looking at how it is formatted to ensure that it is usable as intended.

After completing this resource, learners will be able to:

  • Explain the functional benefits of the EHR
  • Explain different methods for capturing and recording EHR data
  • Compare different formats of EHR data and prominent code sets
Basics of Medical Record Software

Although EHR systems serve basically the same purposes and have the same functions, each system is a bit different in its use, organization, and access to its various features. This resource introduces you to the basic functionality of the MEDCIN software. By learning how to use MEDCIN, you should be able to easily adapt to most other EHR systems.

This resource explains how to set up a patient account, document a patient encounter, and use basic navigation features of the software.

After completing this resource, learners will be able to:

  • Demonstrate navigation of the software
  • Document a patient encounter
  • Complete selected tasks to create a patient account
  • Use basic functions of medical record software using Medcin Student Edition Software