How can I make the needle sticks less painful in dialysis?!
Question: What are some ways to cause less pain when sticking dialysis needles into a patient? What ways are effective in getting the patient more relaxed and not so worried? Some patients have no fear. Some are very fearful of the needles. I certainly understand.
The idea of getting 15 gauge needles stuck in you 3 times a week by different people can be scary. Sometimes patients have to be stuck by new people with very little experience. Damage can be done to their fistula or graft if they are in a clinic that has not trained their staff well. Some say that the larger well established dialysis companies are more likely to have better trained staff since they have the resources to spend time on extensive training. Is that true?
This question is for Nurses, Techs, Doctors, and patients.
Answers: What are some ways to cause less pain when sticking dialysis needles into a patient? What ways are effective in getting the patient more relaxed and not so worried? Some patients have no fear. Some are very fearful of the needles. I certainly understand.
The idea of getting 15 gauge needles stuck in you 3 times a week by different people can be scary. Sometimes patients have to be stuck by new people with very little experience. Damage can be done to their fistula or graft if they are in a clinic that has not trained their staff well. Some say that the larger well established dialysis companies are more likely to have better trained staff since they have the resources to spend time on extensive training. Is that true?
This question is for Nurses, Techs, Doctors, and patients.
are you the patient or the worker?
as a patient if you can paint the area to be stuck with
"Ora Jell Max " (for your mouth) . it will numb the nerves there for about 3 hours. you have to let it soak in for awhile before you get stuck.
if your the worker see if you can get some novacain or some tetracain to put on the insertion spot first . there are other things you can use and you should already know about them . just a sugestion.
there are other ways of doing this , those are but just a few .
i always have them show me where they want to insert the needle and i smak the hell out of the spot and it stays numb or tingly for about 15 seconds.
PS, "SMACKING" an access is a bad idea if the skin is getting thin at an area swollen from repeated needle sticks. It could rupture and then it is off to the ER! Report It
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