Università degli studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia

Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia
Corso di laurea in infermieristica - Sede di Modena

Abstract

This thesis deals with the care and treatment of chronic renal failure by examining the latest scientific evidence and highlighting the role of the nurse in the Department of Nephrology-Dialysis in the treatment of this disease. The choice of this topic was made both out of personal interest and because chronic kidney disease is increasingly a major public health problem: it is the 11th leading cause of mortality worldwide and affects 850 million people worldwide, of whom 2.4 million die each year due to the inability to access dialysis or transplantation. In Italy,1 person out of 10 has kidney damage, about 5 million Italians suffer from kidney disease, 50 thousand Italians undergo dialysis treatment and 5 thousand are waiting for a transplant and as many follow the treatment of peritoneal dialysis. A review of the literature has been carried out, through the consultation of nursing and medical books, articles and guidelines. Research has been carried out on databases such as Pubmed, Cinahl and Cochrane Library, using the following keywords: "Dialysis" "Dialysis nursing care" "Chronic renal failure" "Feeding on dialysis". The nurse is one of the main health professionals to take care of the patient with this disease, whose treatment is not primarily focused on the research of the drug but on the rehabilitation process and maintenance of residual abilities, in order to reduce the disabling results of the disease at an early stage. Towards the end of the course, a few paragraphs are reported in which I tend to stress the importance of nursing care for the dialysis patient, which is based above all on the psychological aspect, and to understand what is the best treatment to use according to the individuality of the person.