Overview of the Role of a Vascular Access Nurse Coordinator in the Optimization of Access Care for Patients Requiring Hemodialysis

The role of the vascular access coordinator is a highly specialized role that has been developed because of the complexity of vascular access for hemodialysis and the episodic nature of the complications that arise over time. This paper is an overview of the experience of a nephrology nurse who created and filled such a role in a large academic center in the US. Support for the role in the literature is cited, including the latest iteration of the KDOQI guidelines. [Hong Kong J Nephrol 2007;9(2):99–103]