Every Dialysis Employee Now Has To Sit in the Chair

[Stacy Without An E]

Let me take a moment to explain.

I was recently informed by one of the staff members that old and new employees alike will be required to sit in one of the Dialysis chairs, have tubing taped to their arm while forced to sit for three hours to get a feel for what Dialysis is really like for the patient.

I applaud them for trying, but please.  Unless the needles are inserted, your blood is removed from your body, cleaned and then returned you're NOT experiencing what we endure.

I've heard these inane comments from staff who' "endured" this:

"It was fun.  I got paid to watch TV for three hours."

"I don't know why patients complain so much.  I got to rest for three hours and just zone out."

I know, ridiculous.

I offered this solution after hearing these infuriating comments:

How about I bring a baseball bat and pummel you until you feel weak and dizzy?  You're then required to vomit for the next day and a half.  Every time you're thirsty you'll have to just suck it up.  And forget about having any energy for work or play.  Then rinse and repeat three times a week for what seems like an eternity.

I'm fully cognizant of the fact that they're trying to get the workers to "relate" to what the patients go through, but this is a poor substitute for the real thing.

[okarol]

Yeah, did the employees have to get weighed in front of everyone? Needle sticks and pummeling are excellent suggestions - keeping it REAL for techs everywhere!

I am not on dialysis and I admire every one of you. I can barely sit through a dental cleaning - and thats only every six months! 

[2_DallasCowboys]

How about the coldness so many
patients feel as their blood flows thru the
machine to be cleaned?  Or the sudden changes
in Blood Pressure, too?
This has to be one of the most ridiculous things I
have read.

Anne

[jbeany]

Give them a sip of salt water - and then let them sit for the next 3 hours without any ice or water.  Put a fan on them, and a couple of bags of ice.  Make sure to tape someplace with body hair and yank it off without warning at the end, too.   

[Ang]

what  a  load  of  bs   

[bioya]

What dialysis provider is doing this? Duh-Vita?

[KT0930]

How about they're required to come in on their day off, not get paid for it, and are not given any choice in what time of the day (or morning) they have to be there. And they are NOT, under any circumstances, allowed to re-schedule or trade with another "patient"?

[okarol]

This thread reminded me of that other one http://ihatedialysis.com/forum/index.php?topic=1931.0

[MyssAnne]

This would be a good post to print out and tape to the wall by the nurse's station at every dialysis center.....

[tweetykiss]

At my husband's center, most techs are good but then some tape him all bad and then he has pain and then a scar that takes a week to disappear.  UGH!!!