Addressing patient concerns about intravenous iron therapy

Hemodialysis patients may not fully understand the relationship between anemia and kidney disease and the role of intravenous (i.v.) iron therapy in anemia management. To address this, nephrology nurses have willingly undertaken the role of patient educator in addition to technical expert. This responsibility is challenging because nurses need to understand the rationale for i.v. iron therapy and the efficacy and safety characteristics of the available i.v. iron therapies, which include iron dextran, iron sucrose, and sodium ferric gluconate. Nurses must then be able to effectively communicate this knowledge to their patients in an understandable fashion. This manuscript offers suggestions to nurses for approaches to address patient concerns about i.v. iron therapies, the latest information regarding the efficacy and safety of i.v. iron treatments, and strategies to communicate this information to patients.