This case takes place in New York and involves the care of an elderly man in a nursing home who was left unattended during a hemodialysis treatment. The patient was started on dialysis treatment and was left unattended at which point a dislodged hemodialysis catheter went unnoticed until the patient was completely exsanguinated. The patient’s roommate was pressing the call button for 20 minutes but no one responded to the calls for help.
When a patient is receiving hemodialysis they need to have continuous monitoring. This is a practice that is standard for all dialysis units and/or bedside dialysis procedures in acute care hospitals. The normal response to a call should be within a few minutes meaning 5 minutes or less. There are no regulations as to the specific time frame but a reasonable amount of time is acceptable, certainly not 20 minutes.
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