Dialysis Safety

Patients who undergo dialysis treatment have an increased risk for getting a healthcare-associated infection (HAI). Hemodialysis patients are at a high risk for infection because the process of hemodialysis requires frequent use of catheters or insertion of needles to access the bloodstream. Also, hemodialysis patients have weakened immune systems, which increase their risk for infection, and they require frequent hospitalizations and surgery where they might acquire an infection.