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Chronic Kidney Disease

  • Post category:Nursing
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The purpose of this assignment is to design a study guide that will assist you and your peers to translate relevant clinical guidelines and evidence-based research into evidence-based practice to promote health and prevent chronic health problems.
Your study guide must include:

o
Definition, etiology
Occurrence/epidemiology
Clinical presentation
Diagnostic testing
Differential diagnosis
Non-pharmacological and pharmacological management and follow up

Submission Instructions:
The study guide is to be clear and concise and will provide a quick reference for a specific chronic disease.
Include your resources and guidelines used for the elaboration of the study guide.
Please use the attached template below to complete your assignment.
o Guide for a Selected Chronic ConditionTemplate.docx Download Guide for a Selected Chronic ConditionTemplate.docx
Students will lose points for improper grammar, punctuation, misspelling, and references should be current (published within the last five years).

Chronic Kidney Disease

 The purpose of this assignment is to design a study guide that will assist you and your peers to translate relevant clinical guidelines and evidence-based research into evidence-based practice to promote health and prevent chronic health problems.

Your study guide must include:

      • Definition, etiology
      • Occurrence/epidemiology
      • Clinical presentation
      • Diagnostic testing
      • Differential diagnosis
      • Non-pharmacological and pharmacological management and follow up

 

Submission Instructions:

Chronic kidney disease study guide

 Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation

Course

Instructor’s Name

Date

Chronic kidney disease study guide

Introduction

Health care professionals must update their skills regularly through continuing education or continued professional development in healthcare settings. Continuing education is normally perceived as a significant contributor to lifelong learning (Rouleau et al., 2019). The Alliance for Continuing Education in Health Professions define continuing education as the process by which caregivers keep up to date with the latest knowledge and advances in health care (Rouleau et al., 2019). In that regard, the purpose of this paper is to design a study guide about chronic kidney disease to assist in translating evidence-based research to evidence-based practice.

Definition and Etiology

Chronic kidney disease (CKD), also called chronic kidney failure, is a slow and gradual loss of kidney function over a long period. The primary purpose of the kidney is to filter wastes and excess fluids from the blood, which are then eliminated from the body through urine (Himmelfarb & Ikizler, 2019). Advanced chronic kidney disease can cause an adverse level of fluid, waste, and electrolytes to build up in the body. The illness occurs when there is a medical condition or illness that causes kidney damage, impairing its functions. Common causes include type 1 and 2 diabetes, hypertension, intestinal nephritis, and recurrent kidney function.

Occurrence/Epidemiology

According to CDC (2021), more than 1 in 7 (15%) of U.S. adults have chronic kidney disease. This number is also estimated at 37 million people with CKD. Nine out of ten adults with CKD do not know they have CKD and 2 in 5 adults with severe CKD do not know they have the disease. Chronic kidney disease is more common (38%) in individuals aged 65 years or older than in individuals aged 45-64 years (12%) or 18-44 years (6%). In terms of gender, CKD is more prevalent in women by 14 % than in men by 12% (CDC, 2021). Furthermore, the disease is more common in non-Hispanic black adults than in non-Hispanic White adults.

Clinical Presentation

Signs and symptoms of chronic kidney disease develop gradually as kidney damage progresses over time. Based on the severity of CKD, symptoms include hypertension, anemia, edema, fatigue, reduced urine output, bloody urine in some cases, presence of dark urine in some cases, decreased mental alertness, and loss of appetite (Himmelfarb & Ikizler, 2019). Others include persistent itchy skin, and more frequent urination, especially during night hours. Care providers use glomerular filtration rate (GFR) to determine the stages of CKD. Stage 1 CKD means that a person’s GFR is at least 90 milliliters per minute (ml/min) per 1.73 meters squared (m2). Stage 2 CKD means the GFR is 60⁠–89 ml/min per 1.73 m2 (Himmelfarb & Ikizler, 2019). At stage 3 CKD, a person’s GFR is 30⁠–59 ml/min per 1.73 m2.

Diagnostic Testing

Various types of diagnostic tests can be conducted to investigate the presence of chronic kidney disease. The disease can be diagnosed using blood and urine tests. The two tests look for an elevated level of substances in the blood and urine as a signal of impaired kidney functions (Kovesdy, 2022). Blood tests look for waste products such as urea and creatinine in the blood. A urine test looks for the presence of albumin in the urine. Imaging tests are also used to diagnose CKD. Doctors might recommend an ultrasound to examine kidney structure and size. Doctors may also recommend a biopsy by removing part of the kidney tissue for testing (Himmelfarb & Ikizler, 2019). All these are diagnostic tests for chronic kidney disease.

Differential Diagnosis

There are numerous differential diagnoses including, acute kidney injury, Alport syndrome, anti-glomerular basement membrane disease, chronic glomerulonephritis, diabetic nephropathy, and multiple myeloma. Acute kidney injury is a rapid or abrupt injury to renal function (Kovesdy, 2022). Alport syndrome entails a group of inherited heterogeneous disorders involving the basement membranes of the kidney. All these differential disorders may be confused with CKD, hence, diagnostic tests are needed to rule them out.

Non-Pharmacological and Pharmacological Management and Follow Up

Both pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments can be utilized to improve the patient’s condition. Pharmacological treatments include medications to control associated health problems such as hypertension. Others include dialysis and kidney transplant (Himmelfarb & Ikizler, 2019). Patients may take medications to relieve swelling, treat anemia, and lower cholesterol levels. Also, the patient may be given medications to protect bones. Dialysis aims at removing waste products and extra fluids from the blood when the kidney fails to do the work (Himmelfarb & Ikizler, 2019). A kidney transplant involves the surgical replacement of a healthy kidney from a donor into the patient’s body.

Non-pharmacological management of CKD includes lifestyle and home remedies and coping support. Lifestyle changes and home remedies include lowering sodium intake and avoiding products with added salts (Himmelfarb & Ikizler, 2019). Also, one should eat lower potassium foods, as well as limit the amount of protein eaten. Copping support may include moderate physical activity, talking to friends, and connecting with people who have similar experiences. Patient education is essential to help the patient understand his/her condition better.

Conclusion

Continuing education helps caregivers to remain updated in terms of skills and new medical practices. The study guide is important to guide learning and teaching among healthcare professionals. The selected disease for this assignment is chronic kidney disease. A detailed description of the disease has been provided.

References

CDC. (2021). Chronic Kidney Disease in the United States, 2021. https://www.cdc.gov/kidneydisease/publications-resources/ckd-national-facts.html#:~:text=CKD%20Is%20Common%20Among%20US%20Adults&text=More%20than%201%20in%207,are%20estimated%20to%20have%20CKD.&text=As%20many%20as%209%20in,not%20know%20they%20have%20CKD.

Himmelfarb, J., & In Ikizler, T. A. (2019). Chronic kidney disease, dialysis, and transplantation: Companion to Brenner & Rector’s the kidney. Elsevier.

Kovesdy, C. P. (2022). Epidemiology of chronic kidney disease: an update 2022. Kidney International Supplements, 12(1), 7-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.kisu.2021.11.003

Rouleau, G., Gagnon, M. P., Côté, J., Payne-Gagnon, J., Hudson, E., Dubois, C. A., & Bouix-Picasso, J. (2019). Effects of e-learning in a continuing education context on nursing care: systematic review of systematic qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-studies reviews. Journal of medical Internet research, 21(10), e15118. https://www.jmir.org/2019/10/e15118/