Staff attitudes impact extended treatment time on hemodialysis

(HealthDay)—Although most health care staff feel that extended treatment time on hemodialysis is beneficial, many nurses do not recommend it, according to a study published online March 16 in the Journal of Renal Care.

Seema Singh, from Imperial College Healthcare National Health Service Trust in London, and colleagues conducted a local survey of dialysis nurses (56 nurses) and a national survey of multidisciplinary hemodialysis staff (15 dialysis providers) across the United Kingdom. The authors sought to examine opinions about extended treatment time.

The researchers found that most respondents felt that extended treatment time was clinically beneficial; however, only 42 percent of nurses and 95 percent of non-nursing health care professionals would recommend extended treatment time (P < 0.0001). Forty-five percent of nurses and 75 percent of non-nursing health care professionals felt that it was well-tolerated (P < 0.05). Eighty-three percent of nurses noted the negative impact on service provision, citing the need to facilitate shifts within a finite time period and pressure to find session spaces.

"There is conflict between the understanding that extended treatment time is clinically beneficial and its prescription and delivery to patients," the authors write. "In-center hemodialysis has been designed to maximize patient throughput and we may need to consider more flexible settings in which to deliver longer treatment time: Home hemodialysis may be a solution."

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