During dialysis, a patient reports feeling chilled. In addition to giving a blanket, what action should the technician take?

• A. Increase blood flow rate
• B. Take the patient7s temperature
• C. Administer acetaminophen
• D. Decrease dialysate temperature

Answer: (B)

Feeling chilled during dialysis can be a sign of fever or infection, or it may simply be a comfort issue from the environment. The best next step is to take the patient’s temperature to determine whether a fever is present and to guide what to do next. If the temperature is elevated, you’d escalate care by informing the nurse/physician and following prescribed actions; if normal, you can address comfort and still monitor for other causes. Other options don’t address the symptom appropriately: increasing the blood flow rate doesn’t relieve chills and could affect blood pressure; giving acetaminophen requires a physician order and could mask a fever; lowering the dialysate temperature would make the patient feel colder and worsen chills. Taking the temperature provides essential information to determine the correct course of action.