By Robert Lalah, Staff Reporter 
A haemodialysis machine which medical facilities use for the purification of blood. - Norman Grindley/ Deputy Chief Photographer
NURSES AT the Haemodialysis Unit at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) say they are frustrated with the working conditions at the facility, citing a serious lack of equipment and a shortage of staff as major problems.
The Haemodialysis Unit caters to people with kidney failure, providing them with the use of haemodialysis machines, which play the roles two or three times per week.
The machines remove all impurities from the patients' blood, a treatment which is required, if not administered could result in death.
In a letter sent to The Gleaner, one patient made an impassioned plea for improved working conditions for the nurses at the unit and the addition of two new haemodialysis machines. The letter writer praised the nurses, saying they were a hardworking and dedicated group of caregivers who quietly bear harsh working conditions at all times with smiles on their faces.
TERRIBLY UNDERSTAFFED
Speaking on the terms of anonymity, a nurse at the unit
yesterday confirmed several
statements made by the letter writer.
"We are terribly understaffed. It's crazy. The nurses are completely burnt out because of the long working hours and overwhelming workload. In addition to this, there is a tremendous shortage of equipment," she said.
The nurse added that she, along with the nine other nurses who work at the unit, is often called upon to work 16-hour shifts. "There are times when I for one get here at 5:30 a.m. and am unable to leave until nine at night, or even later," she said.
The unit can accommodate 16 haemodialysis machines, but the nurse noted that for the past three weeks, only seven of the machines were in service.
"I don't know when the problem will be solved, because we have to import the parts for the machines from overseas," she said. Once we waited over a year to get some parts and when they arrived, they were the wrong parts."
