Nursing Diagnoses and Interventions in Kidney Transplant Recipients: A Retrospective Study

The aim of the study is to determine the nursing diagnoses and interventions applied to kidney transplant recipients.

A descriptive, retrospective study of nursing care plans of patients who underwent kidney transplantation from January 2008 through December 2016 was performed. Data were collected using a descriptive characteristics information form for patients and nursing care plans registered to the hospital's information-processing system. Data for nursing care plans of 100 kidney transplant recipients were analyzed.

It was determined that 59% of the kidney transplant recipients were male and the mean age ± SD was 42.56 ± 12.40 years; 81% of the patients had undergone kidney transplantation from living donors. The most commonly used nursing diagnoses in the care of kidney transplant recipients were (1) risk of infection (100%); (2) deficient knowledge (100%); (3) risk for bleeding (31%); (4) acute pain (26%); and (5) risk for falls (16%). The most common interventions were (1) examining the infection-related laboratory findings (69.0%); (2) limiting the number of visitors (64.0); and (3) setting aside time for patient questions and concerns (59.0%).

Nursing diagnoses and interventions applied in the care of kidney transplant recipients seem to be limited. To provide holistic care to the kidney transplant recipients, the nursing care plans should include more extensive nursing diagnosis and interventions to maintain physical, psychological, and social well-being.