The determine of care needs of transplant patients

2.SUMMARYObjective: The study aims to determine the care needs of renal transplant patients. This study adopted a descriptive research design.Material and Method: The research was conducted at renal transplant clinic service of a private hospital in Istanbul between February and August 2011. Study sample comprised 80 patients underwent renal transplantation who were treated after transplantation surgery and those who were willing to participate into the study. Five data collection tools were used: (1) Patient Diagnostic Form, (2) Chronic Renal Failure Symptom Assessment Form, (3) Chronic Renal Failure Clinical Findings Assessment Form, (4) Newcastle Satisfaction with Nursing Scale (NSNS) and (5) WHOQOL-BREF (TR) Quality of Life Scale.Results: Mean age of the sample was 41.70 ± 13.69, majority of sample were married (75%) and primary school graduates (30%), and only 16.2% were currently employed. The common symptoms experienced by patients during the renal failure were fatigue (93.8%) and anaemia (100%). The mean score of NSNS was 83.16 ± 10.68, and mean score of WHOQOL-BREF (TR) Quality of Life Scale was 73.69 ± 9.15. Those scores indicated that the sample was satisfied with the nursing care, and the quality of life of renal transplant patients was good.Conclusion: The study found that there were statistically significant differences between quality of life scale scores in relation to variables such as gender, education level, employment status, and the presence of people who help and care for the patients, income level, the presence of disease other than kidney disease and the position in the family (p < 0.05). There was statistically significant difference between NSNS scores in relation to the patients? gender (p < 0.05). Nurses working in the transplantation units are required to assess the care needs of patients who underwent renal transplantation, and to tailor care to improve the quality of life of the patients and to develop systematically education programs.Keywords: Transplantation, Nursing care, Quality of life