Palliative nursing care for the patient experiencing end-stage renal failure

Caring for the patient with end-stage renal disease poses many challenges for the bedside nurse. Yet, how do we care for patients who continue to seek hemodialysis with a guarded prognosis? A discussion about palliative care and specific interventions used to help improve quality of life for the end-stage renal patient is provided. A case example accompanies this article, and highlights the interventions used successfully for one such patient.