Characteristics of the responding Quebec hemodialysis units
| Characteristic | No. (%) of units* | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| All n = 38 | Distance between stations < 2 m n = 15 | Distance between stations ≥ 2 m n = 23 | |
| Respondent role | |||
| Staff nephrologist | 31 (82) | 13 (87) | 18 (78) |
| Chief nurse | 7 (18) | 2 (13) | 5 (22) |
| Type of unit | |||
| University-based | 7 (18) | 3 (20) | 4 (17) |
| Community-based | 31 (82) | 12 (80) | 19 (83) |
| No. of patients treated per week, median (IQR) | 86 (32–138) | 60 (24–137) | 86 (32–212) |
| No. of dialysis treatment stations, median (IQR) | 19 (10–27) | 14 (10–26) | 20 (10–40) |
| At > 90% capacity† | 13 (34) | 4 (27) | 9 (39) |
| Patient-to-nurse ratio, median (IQR) | 3 (3–4) | 3 (3–4) | 3 (3–4) |
| Patient-to-PSW ratio, median (IQR) | 9 (7–10) | 8 (6–11) | 10 (8–10) |
| No. of isolation rooms, median (IQR) | 2 (1–4) | 2 (1–3) | 2 (2–4) |
| % of rooms that were isolation, median (IQR) | 12 (9–17) | 11 (3–14) | 13 (10–25) |
| No. of negative-pressure ventilation rooms, median (IQR) | 0 (0–2) | 0 (0–0) | 0 (0–2) |
| Nursing station > 2 m from dialysis stations | 35 (92) | 13 (87) | 22 (96) |
| Treatment area perceived as crowded‡ | 12 (32) | 10 (67) | 2 (9) |
Note: IQR = interquartile range, PSW = personal support worker.
↵* Except where noted otherwise.
↵† Calculated as number of patients divided by 6 times the number of stations, as each dialysis station can accommodate 6 patients per week on thrice-weekly schedule.
↵‡ ”Crowdedness” was as perceived by the person who completed the survey.