Improving patients' knowledge about kidney failure

• Published in: Nursing critical care Vol. 10; no. 1; pp. 41 - 48
• Main Authors: Lee, Michelle L., Sherrod, Brad
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01-01-2015
• Subjects: United States > US
• ISSN: 1558-447X
• DOI: 10.1097/01.CCN.0000457310.26630.71

Kidney disease has affected more than 20 million Americans and incidence rates are projected to continue increasing by 2% annually.1 This disease results in catastrophic physical signs and symptoms and multiple complications for patients to manage. As a result, patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) are subject to increased incidence of hospitalization compared with the average person. Additionally, these patients experience frequent hospitalizations that may be related to not achieving effective clinical outcomes while at home. The relevancy of this clinical concern was identified at a Central Florida hospital. During organizational leader discussions a consistent theme emerged; patients with ESRD on dialysis had an increased rate of hospital readmission. Wingard et al. found that 20% of Medicare patients are hospitalized within 30 days of discharge compared with 36% of patients with ESRD who were readmitted during the same period. Evidence demonstrates a 30% annual rise in hospitalization rates resulting from complications associated with ESRD. This article will discuss an evidence-based practice (EBP) change through implementation of an educational program to improve knowledge of patients with ESRD concerning specific kidney disease outcome quality initiative (KDOQI) guidelines in order to reduce 30-day hospital readmissions. 8 references