Developing an epoetin alfa medication protocol to improve patient care and foster collaboration

This article describes the process undertaken by the nursing staff, management staff, and education department of a community hospital-based outpatient dialysis unit to address the numerous issues related to the management of anemia in their dialysis population. Through good observations and assessments made by the nursing staff, major problems related to anemia management were identified. As a result, staff members developed a medication protocol and a tracking tool to better manage the anemia associated with chronic renal failure. Evaluation of this protocol and tracking tool demonstrated improvement in two clinical patient outcomes and two unit management outcomes.