After listening to this presentation on ESRD I believe that I have a better understanding of the care and the treatment of patients who have ESRD. I am now able to educate patients on manifestations of chronic kidney disease and when to notify a provider. After graduating from nursing school, I wish to work in the ICU and Dialysis and Renal disease is something that is very common in the ICU, so knowledge of the disease will help care for patients more effectively.
Ultimately, I feel the biggest factor to reduce the risk of ESRD is lifestyle changes. A lot of causes of ESRD have to do with an individual’s lifestyle and nutrition. For example, a person who has uncontrollable diabetes is at a very high risk of ESRD because of the uncontrolled blood sugar. Also managing your weight and heart health is very important for preventing ESRD because the heart is related to the kidneys in how it pumps blood to the kidneys. Patients can be provided education to improve renal health by pamphlets from doctors’ offices or through informational presentations in local community areas.
A misconception that I wanted to highlight about ESRD is that dialysis can only be done at a certain location. This is not the case, Dialysis can be done in a dialysis unit, a hospital or in the comfort of your own home. Having worked in the ICU as a nursing technician I have cared for many patients with end stage renal disease and the biggest factors that I have seen that have led to this diagnosis is obesity and diabetes.
