Quality of Life in Chronic Renal Failure and Nursing

High prevalence of Chronic Renal Failure (CRF) in the world and our country increases its morbidity and mortality rates and decreases quality of life. Prevalence of impaired quality of life is high among CRF patients. In terms of cultural structures and value systems in which individuals live; enhancing patients’ quality of life in relation to their own goals, expectations, standards and fears will be important in preventing disease progression and risk factors. In order to enhance quality of life and to obtain a longer survival among CRF patients; in nursing care it is necessary to reduce symptoms, to provide adequate and balanced nutritional intake, to assess effects of pharmacological treatment, to increase exercise tolerance, to prevent complications, to provide patient and family training and to follow-up patient. Patient care should include practices that will maximize patient’s health status in line with nursing process. To inform patients of their condition in a realistic manner and to make them join treatment will produce more successful treatment results. It is necessary not to forget the fact that there are many factors that affect quality of life in CRF. To determine these factors, to heal and to follow up patients; there is a need for nurses who work in this field and possess adequate knowledge and skills. In this review, it has been dealt with situations in which nurses should emphasize and the cases where the patients should be informed in order to ensure that the patients with chronic renal failure can maintain their quality of life at the optimum level