| Theme |
Team medicine in the treatment for renal failure |
| Title |
Dialytic therapy and delivery of medical care by caregivers' team : viewed from home visiting nurses' perspective |
| Author |
Youko Satou |
Department of Nursing, Home Visiting Nurses' Station Komoro, Komoro Kousei General Hospital |
| Author |
Masaya Ikezoe |
Department of Internal Medicine for Renal and Collagenosis, Saku Central Hospital |
| [ Summary ] |
Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is the kind of therapy which is suited for the elderly, because the burdens it causes on the cardiovascular system are insignificant, and because the patients may be treated at their homes without frequent visits to their hospitals. With an increase in dialysis patients among the elderly across the nation, there will presumably appear increasingly many cases to which PD is introduced, even though they find themselves merely in a state where care is required. In order to enable PD patients to continuously receive home care without any anxiety, home-visiting nurses may play a role in delivering medical and home care as a core of community services. But the fact remains that the burdens on the shoulders of caregivers who are supporting PD patients are so enormous that the offer of services merely for a short term can hardly catch up with demand. Hopes are pinned on the offer in the future of a new combined type of services which includes billeting and consultation services for persons in need of care. |