Murray Creek Dialysis
Roughly 540,000 Americans receive maintenance dialysis treatments to treat chronic kidney failure. For patients living in a skilled nursing facility, a skilled nursing facility that offers dialysis care can make their medical care needs easier to manage and improve their quality of life.
What Is Dialysis?
According to the Cleveland Clinic, dialysis is a way of filtering the blood when a patient’s kidneys are no longer sufficiently doing it for them.
When the kidneys are healthy, they filter out waste products, such as creatinine (waste produced by muscles), urea (nitrogen waste), and acids, out of the blood. These waste products and excess fluid are then released into the bladder to be urinated out. When the kidneys aren’t functioning properly, these waste products build up in your blood and lead to a condition called uremia and then kidney failure (both of which can be fatal without dialysis treatment).
People with late-stage kidney disease, end-stage kidney disease, or kidney failure may require dialysis care to manage symptoms. There are five stages of kidney disease, by stage five (when your kidney function is at 15% or less), you are in kidney failure and will require dialysis and/or a kidney transplant to survive.
Are There Different Types of Dialysis Treatments?
The following are the two main types of dialysis treatments:
Hemodialysis
This type of dialysis is when an IV is placed into your body (generally in your arm) to filter your blood through a dialyzer (also known as an “artificial kidney”) to filter your blood. Once the blood is filtered by the dialyzer, the clean blood is put into your body through another IV. This is the most common type of dialysis.
Peritoneal Dialysis
This type of dialysis is done by using the blood vessels in the lining of the peritoneum (abdomen) to filter your blood. It is done by surgically installing a catheter into your abdomen and then teaching you how to add a dialysis solution and then how to drain it.
What Conditions Put Patients At Risk Of Kidney Failure?
According to the Mayo Clinic, when the kidneys experience prolonged damage (more than a few months), you are considered to have chronic kidney disease. When chronic kidney disease is left untreated and/or gets worse, it can lead to late-stage kidney disease and kidney failure that will require dialysis and/or a kidney transplant.
Conditions that put the body at risk of kidney disease include:
- Diabetes (Type 1 and Type 2)
- High blood pressure
- Certain autoimmune diseases, like lupus, sarcoidosis, or Sjögren’s Syndrome
- Certain inherited kidney diseases, such as polycystic kidney disease
- Prolonged obstructions in the urinary tract
- Vesicoureteral reflux (a medical condition that causes urine to back up into kidneys)
- Excessive or prolonged use of certain medications, like high doses of ibuprofen, lithium, immune suppressing drugs, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, etc.
How Does Dialysis Care Work In A Skilled Nursing Facility?
Staying at a skilled nursing facility with dialysis care onsite can be a huge advantage to patients dealing with kidney disease. Onsite dialysis allows patients to skip the commute and receive dialysis in an environment that is familiar and comfortable.
Getting dialysis at a skilled nursing facility is essentially the same process as your dialysis anywhere else, but at a skilled nursing facility, you will get an extra level of reassurance that you’re in the hands of medically trained and licensed staff.
Receiving onsite dialysis at a skilled nursing facility that a patient is already a resident at also provides them with better care coordination as the staff they routinely deal with will be the ones helping them set things up and be with them after their treatments.
Receiving dialysis care at a Monument Health skilled nursing facility can also provide patients and their families with convenience and peace of mind.
What Type Of Dialysis Is Most Common In A Skilled Nursing Facility?
Hemodialysis is the most common type of dialysis treatment. However, the staff at Monument Health can assist you with your treatments if you have already been doing peritoneal dialysis.
Patients staying at a skilled nursing facility with dialysis can enjoy the convenience and safety of quality care for their treatments. Check out Monument Health in Murray Creek for your dialysis treatments.