COMPETENCY ASSESSMENT OF HEMODIALYSIS UNIT NURSES IN EFFICIENT MANAGEMENT OF END STAGE RENAL DISEASE PATIENTS

Abstract

Background: Chronic Kidney Disease is a major health care concern in terms of its morbidity and mortality around the worldwide. It has shown an increasing trend of patients and raises the economic load in the current years. Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease usually go into end-stage renal disease through passing many phases. The End-Stage Renal Disease is the stage that cannot be cured or reversed and treated by some conservative care alone, and must need dialysis or kidney transplantation to sustain life.

Aim: The main purpose of the study was to assess the levels of competency regarding knowledge and skills of nursing staff working in haemodialysis units.

Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study was carried out to evaluate the knowledge and skills competencies of nurses working in haemodialysis unit. A sample of 100 nurses was taken through universal sampling method from both the public and private sectors hospitals in Lahore. Data was collected through a self-administered, structured and valid questionnaire. SPSS Version-17 was used for the analysis of data. Frequencies, percentages and mean values were calculated according to the nature of the variables. The interpreted data was plotted in graphs and tables. All the ethical considerations were taken care properly during the entire conduction of the study.

Results: The findings of the study showed that mean age of the participants was 29.43+6.396. Majority of Nurse (92%) were having diploma in General nursing qualification while very few were having bachelor qualification in nursing. Around 83% of the staff nurses had no formal training regarding hemodialysis and they gained their working experience from their senior nurses. Findings further showed that nurses had poor knowledge regarding managing the dialysis patients. Approximately 88% of the participants did not provide the standard care to the patients in pre procedure, 71% of them did not provide the care to the patient during procedure and 100% of the participants were unable to provide the care to the patients after procedure which showed an approach of incompetency in the provision of standardized nursing care.

Conclusion: The findings of the study showed that majority of the nursing staff were found deficient in their knowledge and skill performance while caring the patients with hemodialysis. This study finding further highlights the need for greater attention to be paid on training program and special courses in haemodialysis among health care professionals specifically nurses who spends most of their time in direct care of the patients. Training of nurses may play a crucial role to bring quality in care of patients undergoing the hemodialysis procedures.