Hygenic Televisions for Renal Dialysis Patients

The two isolation rooms for treatment of Dialysis patients at St. James’s have now been equipped with state of the art communication devices that will improve patients’ treatment time beyond recognition. Nuala Doyle, the Nurse Manager responsible for the Renal Dialysis Unit, researched the market and, with generous donations received by the hospital, was able to buy the devices that provide each patient undergoing treatment with touch screen satellite TV, radio and nurse call.

The devices that have been installed are small flat touch screen TV that are attached to a wall-mounted rotational arm with angle hinges that patients may position at any angle for viewing and or listening during treatment. The touch screen also has a nurse call button if needed.

Manufactured specially to minimise the spread of infection by a company in the medical field, Nuala says the devices have been welcomed so gratefully by patients: “Patients who need dialysis spend four hours – three times a week – lying on a bed, attached to the machine in an isolation room. New patients, and in particular acute patients, are very frightened.” She explains however why providing any form of communication has up to now been such a challenge. “Dialysis patients are immunosuppressed and normal TVs are not permitted under Dialysis Infection Control Guidelines. What we needed was a device that could be moved for each patient and that the patient could control personally from his / her position in the bed – and that would be suitable from an infection control perspective.”

The Acute Dialysis Unit at St. James’s serves acute patients. They are referred from varied specialties within the hospital – ICU, General Medicine, Surgical, Cardoiothoracic, Burns, Haematology/Oncology, Vascular and others. In addition a service is provided to chronic dialysis patents from other units across the country who are admitted to St. James’s for specialist treatment or surgery. The Unit administers a thousand treatments each year.

Contact Us

St. James’s Hospital Foundation
St. James’s Hospital
James’s Street
Dublin 8

Telephone 01 428 4086
Email foundation@stjames.ie