End-of-Life issues and the patient with renal disease: an evidence-based practice project

End-of-life issues affect everyone at some time. Individuals with chronic illness need to face these issues earlier to ensure their wishes are carried out. Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) Stage 5 have only three options: dialysis in its various forms, renal transplant, or death. In some cases, nurses who care for these patients feel they are caught between patients, their families, and the physician(s). Nurses want to help their patients but feel their hands are tied. The authors' evidence-based practice renal project team worked to answer the questions of how nurses can assist patients with end-of-life issues. Do patients with CKD Stage 5 receive enough information on quality of life and end-of-life issues? The evidence showed that nurses are not comfortable discussing end-of-life issues with their patients. In response to these data, several educational sessions designed to give nurses tools needed to develop a comfort level when discussing end-of-life issues with their patients were completed.