Experiences of safety among patients receiving home dialysis therapies

Abstract

SUMMARY Background Dialysis patients' experience of safety can be seen positively connected with their wellbeing and successful outcomes of their treatment and care. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the factors promoting and weakening the safety experiences and create a basis for empowering interventions. Objectives Analyse patients' experiences of safety with dialysis and the factors promoting and weakening their safety. Methods A descriptive study design was used. This study analysed Finnish patients' (n = 70) experiences of safety with dialysis and the factors promoting and weakening patients' safety. Data were collected using a questionnaire including one structured question and two open questions. Findings The patients experienced their care as safe. Thematic analysis provided three factors promoting patients' safety: certainty of patient's own competence in dialysis self‐management, competence of personnel in dialysis treatment and care, continuity of ensuring patients' state of health, as well as three factors weakening safety: patients' uncertainty of living with chronic kidney disease, insufficient patient education and uncertain realisation of dialysis treatment and care. Conclusion This study provided new insight into understanding patients' experiences of safety with dialysis. We show that the factors connected with patients' safety were related to the successful realisation of self‐management, support for the self‐management, and delivery of dialysis treatment and care anticipating high‐level outcomes. In light of this study, there are development needs in dialysis treatment and care as a whole in order to ensure patients' safety.

Sufficiency of Knowledge Processed in Patient Education in Dialysis Care

“…The subjective sufficiency of knowledge seemed to be linked to several background factors. In particular, patients perceiving care as safe or confidential evaluated their knowledge as more sufficient (see also Virtanen et al 48 ), emphasizing the importance of these experiences and emotions in patient education. In addition, women should be acknowledged due to their evaluations of insufficiency in several dimensions.…”

Perceptions of peritonitis risk, prevention, diagnosis and stigma: Findings from a mixed methods study with patients and relatives using peritoneal dialysis

“…Stigma negatively affects people psychologically and can create a barrier in accessing healthcare (van Brakel et al, 2019). The latter is particularly concerning in relation to home dialysis, which relies on the ability of individuals to access care from specialist healthcare professionals; this is a crucial aspect of safely managing home dialysis (Virtanen et al, 2019).…”

“…Preventing peritonitis via hygiene measures is an important aspect of PD self‐management requiring vigilance (Campbell et al, 2016; Tannor et al, 2017). A Finnish study reported that patients' certainty of their dialysis knowledge and skills promoted feeling safe when self‐managing home dialysis (Virtanen et al, 2019). However, various quantitative studies highlight gaps in patient knowledge, e.g.…”