Living Well with Kidney Disease: Nurses Make a Huge Difference

Abstract

Kidney diseases have risen from from the world’s 13th leading causes of death to the 10th and mortality has increased from 8, 13, 000 in 2000 to 1.3 million in 2019.  The KKidney diseases disrupt and restrict the activities of daily living and impair the quality of life of patients and their family members. The progression of kidney disease to more severe later stages can be prevented and/or slowed down. The World Kidney Day Steering Committee has declared 2021 as the year of “Living Well with Kidney Disease”. It emphasise on various strategies so that patients can live well and develop a sense of control over their health and well-being. Nurses as a primary caregivers provide qualityative care to the patients. They empower patients using education, encourage them for shared decision making, and assist in skills development for self-management. They engage patients in the development, implementation, and evaluation of interventions for practice and policy settings. They facilitate patients to support groups and provide more effective, integrated, and holistic symptom management. In this way, Nurses nurses play a pivotal role in patient empowerment,; partnership, and improved communication,; strength- based approach to care; and holistic symptom management to inspire confidence and hope in patients that they can live well.