End-Stage Renal Disease and Patient Education
End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD), primarily known as Kidney failure, is the final stage to the chronic kidney disease. During this stage, the kidney does not function normally. Its functionality is below 10 percent. Some common clinical manifestation and complication of kidney failure include Anemia, decreased sex drive, cardiovascular diseases, and renal osteodystrophy. Some systematic disorders cause ESRD. These conditions include diabetes mellitus, hypertension, chronic glomerulonephritis, and infections medications. A patient’s general knowledge of the illness influences how he/she manages the condition (Chin et al., 2018). Perceiving the illness with a sense of destiny or loss can likely lead to unhappiness and depression. Instead, the illness should be treated as something that occurs within a setting. Improving perception can be achieved via patient education.
It is important that the patients of ESRD understand its treatment, especially how the treatment affects them personally. The patient should be highlighted on the effect of non-compliance. Patient education greatly improves compliance with medication across a broad range of conditions and disease severities (Li et al., 2018
Patient education is a reasonable intervention for those with ESRD as it reduces anxiety. Research has highlighted the benefits of patient education beyond merely reducing anxiety, such as increasing quality of life, compliance, and patients’ satisfaction with care.
Health professionals are encouraged to assist the patients of ESRD in improving their overall adjustment. Health institution should implement these aspects to empower patients to live their best lives with the disease.
References
Chin, M. P., Bakris, G. L., Block, G. A., Chertow, G. M., Goldsberry, A., Inker, L. A., … & Warnock, D. G. (2018). Bardoxolone methyl improves kidney function in patients with chronic kidney disease stage 4 and types two diabetes: Post-hoc analyses from bardoxolone methyl evaluation in patients with chronic kidney disease and type 2 diabetes study. American Journal of Nephrology, 47(1), 40-47.
Li, Q., Trivedi, A. N., Galarraga, O., Chernew, M. E., Weiner, D. E., & Mor, V. (2018). Medicare Advantage ratings and voluntary disenrollment among patients with end-stage renal disease. Health Affairs, 37(1), 70-77.