Messages about acute kidney injury

[Anonymous]

Here are some messages about acute kidney injury that we are planning to use with health and care professionals.

We’ve tested them out with a few people in the NHS but what do you think of them? Are they useful? Do they get the message across? Who needs to know this information? What else might we use

1. Only 50% of AKI care is considered good
2. AKI is 100 times more deadly than MRSA infection – NICE
3. Up to 100,000 deaths in secondary care are associated with AKI and 1⁄4 to 1/3 have the potential to be prevented *
4. It is thought that 1 in 5 emergency admissions into hospital are associated with AKI (Wang, et all 2012)
5. There is an unacceptable delay in the recognition of post-admission AKI in 43% *

*National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (NCEPOD) – Adding Insult to Injury, 2009

Tell us what you think…….

Post by Guest (Nicki) on Sep 21, 2014 at 7:18pm

While the website is most relevant to professionals and carers it is essential that all messages about AKI are patient-friendly and for me this means attention needs to be given to the kinds of questions a patient might ask. Health management is a partnership between professionals and individuals. a better informed patient might take more time up ( from direct experience a well informed patient who wishes to discuss their health is viewed in much the same way as a parent who has concerns about their child’s education by head teachers) but they are much more likely to act on good advice and good practice.

Some of the messages could be so. Much more patient centred. For instance, small changes can often make a lot of difference to our kidney health; the following ….symptoms can be a sign of kidney problems when undergoing treatments such as chemotherapy, heart problems, infection, flu etc..; if necessary be proactive and ask your GP to monitor your kidney profile if you are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes; etc… (these are just some suggestions) a big issue at the moment is the inconsistency of advice about diet for people with conditions which could impact on their kidney health and for kidney patients at all stages of renal problems or replacement therapies. While there always needs to be room for personalised care, it seems to me that the advice given on diet and diet management differs greatly between renal centres. greater awareness of how diet impacts on the kidneys and on a person in renal failure or replacement therapy is very important but sadly often difficult to find, and is often contradictory or confusing. Stronger messages need to be designed to support professionals and patients and thereby reduce unnecessary renal decline.

To share personal experience, messages like “there’s nothing you can do about it” “we just have to wait to see how things progress” “go out and enjoy life and come back when you start to feel ill” and even “best thing is to live as if you don’t have the problem because statistically you are more likely to be hit by a bus ” (to a young PKD patient) may seem compassionate but they often leave the patient feeling stranded and disempowered. These sorts of messages to young people in particular can really only encourage reactionary behaviours – binge alcohol consumption, a sense of hopelessness which means less self care in the immediate and long term. Compliance, not a word I like anyway, stats with feeling an equal partner in the process and being listened to.

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