In this research, it was observed that moral empowerment program has been effective in reducing the mean score of moral distress. Therefore, it is recommended that nursing managers and hospital directors implement empowerment program, in order to reduce the moral distress of nurses and improve the quality of care.

Background:Restless leg syndrome prevalence is high among the patients undergoing hemodialysis. Due to several side effects of medicational treatments, the patients prefer non-medicational methods. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the effects of two methods of reflexology and stretching exercises on the severity of restless leg syndrome among patients undergoing hemodialysis.Materials and Methods:This study is a randomized clinical trial that was done on 90 qualified patients undergoing hemodialysis in selected hospitals of Isfahan, who were diagnosed with restless leg syndrome through standard restless leg syndrome questionnaire. They were randomly assigned by random number table to three groups: Reflexology, stretching exercises, and control groups through random allocation. Foot reflexology and stretching exercises were conducted three times a week for 30–40 min within straight 4 weeks. Data analysis was performed by SPSS version 18 using descriptive and inferential statistical analyses [one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), paired t-test, and least significant difference (LSD) post hoc test].Results:There was a significant difference in the mean scores of restless leg syndrome severity between reflexology and stretching exercises groups, compared to control (P < 0.001), but there was no significant difference between the two study groups (P < 0.001). Changes in the mean score of restless leg syndrome severity were significantly higher in reflexology and stretching exercises groups compared to the control group (P < 0.001), but it showed no significant difference between reflexology massage and stretching exercises groups.Conclusions:Our obtained results showed that reflexology and stretching exercises can reduce the severity of restless leg syndrome. These two methods of treatment are recommended to the patients.

Background:Chronic renal disease and hemodialysis cause numerous psychological, social, cultural, and spiritual challenges for both patients and their families. Overcoming these challenges is possible only through providing holistic support for the patients. Today, despite the support provided by family and professional caregivers for the patients, patients still express dissatisfaction with the support provided and believe it to be inadequate. In fact, patients and family caregivers and healthcare practitioners seem to have different understandings of the notion of support. Thus, the researcher decided to examine the concept of support from the viewpoint of hemodialysis patients.Materials and Methods:This descriptive phenomenological research was conducted on 17 patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) who were undergoing hemodialysis. Purposive sampling was performed and continued until data saturation. Data were collected through 30–60 min unstructured interviews and analyzed using Colaizzi's method.Results:From the analysis of data, 4 themes (psychological support, accompaniment, social support, and spiritual support) and 11 sub-themes were obtained. Psychological support consisted of two sub-themes of psychological support by healthcare practitioners and emotional support by family and relatives. Accompaniment included three sub-themes of assistance in transportation, providing and using medicine, and daily activities. Social support was identified with four sub-themes of promotion of the society's understanding of the patients’ condition, improvement of communication with others, the need for employment, and independence. Spiritual support was identified with two sub-themes of the need for faith and trust in God or Imams and the need to resolve spiritual contradictions.Conclusion:The results showed that from the viewpoint of the participants, the concept of support consisted of psychological support, social support, accompanying the patient, and spiritual support. Hence, it can be concluded that this concept should be considered in healthcare planning, in order to improve the health and quality of life of these patients and their adaptation to the disease and its treatment process.

Background:Pain resulting from muscle cramps is one of the most common outcomes of hemodialysis. One of the mechanisms associated with muscle cramps is unnatural muscle metabolism. Because acupressure improves muscle metabolism through the releasing of energy, this study was performed with the purpose of determining the impact of acupressure on muscle cramps.Materials and Methods:This study was a single-blind clinical trial. Accordingly, 64 patients were selected and intensity and frequency of muscle cramps were determined by randomly categorizing them into two groups. The intervention group received 9 sessions of acupressure and the control group received 9 sessions of placebo intervention. The intervention was performed 15 min before hemodialysis in both groups. In both the groups, average intensity of pain and the frequency pain was compared before, after, and 1 month after completion of the intervention.Results:Data analysis revealed that there were no significant statistical differences between the two groups in terms of mean value of intensity (P = 0.586) and frequency (P = 0.780) of muscle cramps before the intervention. We observed a significant difference after completion of intervention sessions (P < 0.001). Moreover, there were no significant differences between mean value of intensity (P < 0.001) and frequency (P = 0.030) of muscle cramps in the control group before, after, and 1 month after the completion of 9 sessions of placebo intervention.Conclusions:Employing acupressure may result in decrease of muscle cramps in patients undergoing hemodialysis.

Background:Renal failure is a major public health problem in the world. These patients experience high levels of psychological tension, anxiety, and depression, which leads to their lowered quality of life, increased health care costs, and early mortality. Due to medication side effects in these patients, non-medicational methods are more in demand now. This study aimed to investigate the effect of hope therapy on depression, anxiety, and stress among the patients undergoing hemodialysis.Materials and Methods:This is a clinical trial. Fifty patients undergoing hemodialysis were selected. Patients were assigned to two groups of hope therapy and placebo. Intervention of hope therapy was administered for 60–90 min during dialysis sessions once a week for eight sessions. In the placebo group, non-specific intervention was administered with the same number of sessions. Depression, Anxiety, and Stress scale (DASS)-21 questionnaire was completed at the end of the last session and 4 weeks later. Data were analyzed by paired t-test, repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA), and least significant difference (LSD) post hoc test through SPSS 18.Results:There was a significant difference in mean scores of depression, anxiety, and stress in hope therapy group before, immediately after, and 1 month after intervention (P < 0.05), while there was no significant difference in mean scores of depression, anxiety, and stress before and immediately after intervention in the placebo group. Changes in mean scores of depression, anxiety, and stress were significantly higher in hope therapy group compared to placebo (P < 0.05).Conclusions:The obtained results showed that hope therapy is effective on reduction of depression, anxiety, and stress.

BackgroundProviding patient-centered care needs in patients with chronic renal failure undergoing hemodialysis is important in inspiring their confidence to continue their treatment and promote their mental and social health. Therefore, recognizing the concept of care from the viewpoint of these patients can be helpful in designing the care programs of this vulnerable group. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to reveal the meaning and concept of care based on the experience of patients with chronic renal failure undergoing hemodialysis.MethodsUsing a descriptive phenomenological method, this study was conducted on 17 patients who were undergoing hemodialysis. Purposive sampling was performed and data was collected through 30 to 60 min, face-to-face and in-depth semi-structured interviews. Data analysis was performed using Colaizzi’s method.ResultsSeventeen patients (9 women 8 men) aged between 24 and 83, and a minimum of 10 and maximum of 168 months history of hemodialysis participated in the study. After data analysis, 4 themes and 9 sub-themes were extracted, and the concept of care emerged for the participants as empathy, companionship in everyday needs, social support and concern, and good-quality dialysis.ConclusionsBased on the results of this study, the concept of care from the viewpoint of patients emerged in the form of empathy, companionship in everyday needs, social support and concern, and good-quality dialysis. It is recommended that caregivers of patients consider these concepts in the design of patient-centered care programs.

Background:Hemodialysis is the most common renal replacement therapy in the world, and hemodialysis adequacy is an important and influencial factor in the reduction of various complications experienced by these patients. Multiple factors influence hemodialysis adequacy. This study was conducted to determine hemodialysis adequacy and its relationship with individual and personal factors in patients undergoing hemodialysis in three hemodialysis centers of Isfahan, Iran.Materials and Methods:This descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted in partnership with 202 patients undergoing hemodialysis in three hemodialysis centers of Isfahan. The data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire, and hemodialysis adequacy was measured using the urea reduction ratio (URR). Data analysis was conducted using Spearman's correlation coefficient, Mann–Whitney and Kruskal–Wallis tests, and descriptive statistics (frequency distribution). In this study, the level of significance was considered to be 0.05.Results:Hemodialysis adequacy in 56.4% of patients was optimal, in 29.7% near optimum, and in 13.9% less than optimal. Statistical tests showed a significant correlation between hemodialysis adequacy and age (P = 0.05), prehemodialysis systolic blood pressure (BP) (P = 0.02) and diastolic BP (P = 0.04), the duration of hemodialysis in months (P = 0.02), and patients’ sex (P = 0.01). There was no significant correlation between hemodialysis adequacy and the number of hemodialysis cessations per week (P = 0.20), interdialytic weight gain (P = 0.40), prehemodialysis blood urea nitrogen (P = 0.40), creatinine (P = 0.10), hemoglobin (P = 0.20), hematocrit (P = 0.08), venous access type (P = 0.30), needle distance and direction (P = 0.70), underlying causes of end-stage renal disease (P = 0.50), and personnel's shift (P = 0.90).Conclusions:The results of the study showed that approximately half of the patients did not have an optimal level of hemodialysis adequacy, and multiple individual and personnel factors affect hemodialysis adequacy directly or conversely.

Background:Kidney transplantation is the renal replacement therapy of choice for most patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD), however, adherence to the recommended lifestyle is critical for a positive prognosis. The purpose of this study was to assess adherence to immunosuppressive therapy and lifestyle recommendations along with some related factors among kidney transplant patients.Materials and Methods:In this descriptive analytical study, all patients completed a questionnaire regarding medication intake and lifestyle recommendations (preventing of infection, self-monitoring, prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD), and sun protection). The participants were divided into 4 groups according to the level of adherence (good, partial, poor, and nonadherent) indicated in their responses.Results:Most kidney recipients were adherent to their drug prescriptions, but were partial, poor, or nonadherent regarding lifestyle recommendations. Increased passage of time since transplantation and low family support and educational level resulted in nonadherence. Men showed greater adherence to medication intake than women. Patients with lower number of drugs and reported drug side-effects illustrated better adherence to medication intake. Women adhered to infection protection recommendations more than men, and older and married patients adhered to cardiovascular prevention recommendations more than others. However, younger patients showed greater adherence to self-monitoring recommendations, and singles, young individuals, and women were adherent to sun protection recommendations.Conclusions:Nonadherence is common among kidney transplant recipients. Thus, it is necessary to determine patients who are at risk of nonadherence and to introduce more educational programs to improve their adherence and their quality of life (QOL).