Home Care For End-Stage Renal Patients
If your loved one has end-stage renal disease, also known as kidney failure, then you may need to consider hiring an in-home hospice care service. Patients with end-stage renal disease often require both skilled nursing care and custodial care; and while hospitalization is often needed, home care is often preferred by the patient and their family. Here are some home care treatment interventions healthcare providers can offer your loved one with renal disease.
In-Home Kidney Dialysis
People who have end-stage renal disease typically do not get better without either a kidney transplant or dialysis treatments. Your loved one may be too sick or weak to visit an outpatient kidney dialysis center for their treatment. Because of this, in-home dialysis treatments may be a better option.
Home care hospice personnel can show you or your loved one how to perform dialysis treatments or they can perform the treatments themselves if you are not comfortable with doing so or if the patient is unable to self-perform their dialysis treatments. While your loved one's insurance may not cover the costs of both hospice care and dialysis treatments, you can talk to the hospice director, social worker, or the patient's primary care physician to learn more about payment options and possible financial resources.
Wound Care
End-stage renal disease is a risk factor in the development of skin breakdown. It can also lead to poor wound healing of existing decubitus ulcers, also called pressure ulcers and bedsores. The home care provider can perform preventative measures such as repositioning your loved one every couple of hours so that pressure does not stay on their bony prominences for too long, resulting in skin wounds.
The healthcare provider can also make sure that your loved one stays clean and dry by performing frequent adult diaper changes so that irritating urine and stool do not have a chance to excoriate their delicate perianal skin. If the renal patient has existing decubitus ulcers, the provider can cleanse the wound, apply ointments, and cover the area with an appropriate dressing as recommended by the physician. Preventative measures such as repositioning, incontinent care, and wound treatments help prevent further skin breakdown, and they also reduce the risk for infections of existing wounds.
If your loved one has end-stage renal disease, call a local hospice home care agency to learn more about how their providers can benefit the patient. When the above interventions are implemented, your loved one can stay healthier and live more comfortably.
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