Getting Prepared for Home Hemodialysis
Before starting at-home hemodialysis (HD), you will train for 4 to 8 weeks with a home-training nurse on how to use the equipment. If you’re doing care-partner-assisted home hemodialysis, your partner will be trained with you. Most people will do at-home HD with a care partner, but some programs allow people to do treatments on their own if they are able to.
What is needed to do home HD?

- A clean room, or other area, for your treatment
- A space for your dialysis supplies and dialysis machine
- Additional storage space for up to 6 weeks’ worth of supplies
- Depending on your therapy choice, a care partner who will either help or be with you during treatments
How to set up your home treatment space
Your nurse and a technician will visit you at home to help you decide where to set up your treatment area and how to store your supplies.
Your treatment space will need to be equipped with the following:
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5 expert ideas for storing HD supplies
- Consider stacking up, not out. Based on your space, you may have the option to stack some supplies vertically as long as they're stable. This could use less floor space.
- Maximize unused storage space. Try sliding supplies under beds or stacking them in closets, out of sight.
- Store small supplies in stackable storage drawers. Using drawers on wheels will let you move supplies out of the way when not in use.
- Order fewer supplies at a time. It’s best to have 6 weeks of supplies at home. If you have storage issues, you may be able to order a smaller amount more frequently.
- Unpack supplies from boxes. This can cut down on volume. Note that some supplies should remain in boxes if there’s a chance you’ll return them later.
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