Reuse Technicians at the Dialysis Center

What is a reuse technician?

Reuse technicians are people at a dialysis facility who clean and sterilize dialyzers. A dialyzer is a filter that cleans the blood of excess fluid and waste. It is sometimes called the artificial kidney. Each patient has his own dialyzer, which is attached to the hemodialysis machine. It can be reused for a certain period of time. Strict procedures must be followed to make sure the dialyzer is clean, sterile and in working condition before it is used again. The reuse technician is the person responsible for making sure that each renal patient’s dialyzer meets these precise standards.

A reuse technician undergoes thorough training in the procedures needed to clean and inspect the dialyzers as well as operate and maintain the reuse machine.

What do reuse technicians do?

After a kidney patient undergoes hemodialysis, his dialyzer is labeled with the patient’s name, sealed in a plastic bag and sent to the reuse technician. The reuse technician inspects each dialyzer for blood clots, rinses them out if they are present and then places the dialyzer onto the reuse machine for cleaning. The cleaning process starts by using reverse ultra filtration (RUF). This is water treated with reverse osmosis (RO). Reverse osmosis makes city water highly purified. RO water cleans the dialyzer without leaving traces of particles and chemicals on it.

After RUF, the reuse machine will do a pressure test for any holes in the dialyzer. The reuse machine will also check to see how much blood volume the dialyzer can hold. Dialyzers are sized according to blood volume. The blood volume used will depend on the renal patient’s weight. If the blood volume of the dialyzer is below 80% of its original number or if there are any holes in the dialyzer, the reuse technician will replace the patient’s dialyzer with a new one.

After the reuse machine has cleaned and tested the dialyzer, the reuse technician will disinfect it. The dialyzer will sit in disinfectant for at least 11 hours. Before it is used again, the patient care technician (PCT) must make sure that all disinfectant is cleaned from the dialyzer by letting saline flow through it. This is called priming. A test is performed to make sure no disinfectant is left on the dialyzer. The process is verified by two teammates. Once it is cleared, the dialyzer is ready for use.

Reuse technicians are also trained to look for blood clotting within the dialyzers. Clotting can sometimes mean the patient isn’t receiving enough heparin (an anti-clotting medication). Clots in the dialyzer can lessen the effectiveness of dialysis, and a kidney patient’s Kt/V (measurement of adequacy of dialysis) could go down. If the reuse technician notices clotting, he will alert a nurse and record it in the patient’s chart. The technician will also keep track of the number of times a dialyzer is used and will replace it after a predetermined number of reuses or as needed.

In addition to servicing the dialyzers, the reuse technician cleans and maintains the reuse machine. The machine is state-of-the-art equipment and is a vital part of the facility. The technician monitors the machine as well as the reverse osmosis water system and reports any problems to a biomedical technician.

What to ask your reuse technician

Renal patients always have the option of not reusing their dialyzer. Patients with certain health conditions like hepatitis B are unable to participate in the reuse program. Your reuse technician can answer any questions you might have about reuse.

You can ask your reuse technician how many reuses your dialysis facility allows for dialyzers. The number varies from facility to facility. You can also ask what safety measures are in place to make sure you are getting the correct dialyzer at each treatment.

Like other team members at your facility, your reuse technician is there to provide you with a safe and comfortable dialysis treatment.

Are you interested in being a DaVita reuse technician?

Qualifications

1. High school graduate or GED.
2. Must successfully complete the Reuse Technician Training Program within scheduled time limit.
3. Bilingual in Spanish preferred.

Job Functions

• Equipment operation:

1. Process dialyzers and maintain accurate, legible, and appropriate documentation according to DaVita company policy and procedure.
2. Clean and sterilize equipment, supplies and work area.
3. Clean and bleach concentrate jugs, maintain and reuse areas in a clean and orderly manner.
4. Observe reuse equipment and R.O. water system for correct functioning and logs results. Respond to visual and audible alarms and reports deviations and problems to the Facility Administrator/Biomedical Technician.
5. Stock supplies and maintain storage areas in an orderly manner.
6. Notify purchasing personnel when supply inventories are low.

Quality compliance

1. Properly bag and remove all refuse, infectious waste and linen from the unit according to approved DaVita policy in compliance with state and federal regulations.
2. Maintain re-use log of dialyzers
3. Compliance with DaVita policy and procedures in accordance with state or federal regulations for patient care and services (Medicare, OSHA, or other governing agencies).
4. Compliance with state or federal regulations of the Injury Prevention and Safety Training Program.

Other duties

1. Perform other duties as assigned.
2. Able to work overtime with little or no choice.
3. Attend staff meetings, in service, and educational activities.
4. Practice considerate, respectful manner towards patients.
5. Understand and follow DaVita patient and employment policy and procedure.
6. Ability to lift 35 pounds, and able to perform repetitive standing, lifting, stooping, walking, stretching, reaching and use full range of body motions.

To see a listing of job openings and find out more about a career as a Reuse Technician with DaVita, go to the Careers page.