Effect of Palliative Care Plan On end-stage renal disease Patients Undergoing Hemodialysis

Background: Palliative care is defined as a treatment given to control pain and
undesirable symptoms of chronic or serious illnesses where there is no reasonable
anticipation of a cure for patients. Determination patient and early referral to
palliative care decrease suffering and improve symptom management in these
patients; also it can reduce overall health care utilization and costs if initiated early
in the disease course. Aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of Palliative Care
Plan On end-stage renal disease Patients Undergoing Hemodialysis. Study design:
A quasi-experimental design was used in the conduction of this study. Setting:
This study was carried out at hemodialysis unit at Alazhar University Hospital at
new Damietta city. Subjects: A convenient sample of 35 patients. Tools of Data
Collection: The following tools were used to collect the necessary data:1)
Structured interview sheet, 2) Self-care questionnaire, 3) Dialysis symptom index,
and 4) Palliative care plan. Results: increased total mean score of patients
knowledge and practice t ,with highly statistically significant differences at pre vs
post test& pre vs follow up test (p <0.01) for both tests. Conclusion: the palliative
care plan had positive effect in decreasing and control severity of those symptoms
in patients undergoing hemodialysis. Recommendations Dialysis units should
equipped by palliative care programs. Set up a counseling room in
hemodialysis