Experiences of caring and support needs of family care givers of patients with end stage renal diseases at selected hemodialysis units in Rwanda

Abstract

Background: Chronic Kidney disease is a public health problem which affect patient directly and family members indirectly. Family members take responsibility in caring patient with ESRD. The family care giving is grouped into the domains in which the caregiver assist the patient with nursing and medical care, household/family tasks, self-care tasks, mobility; provision of emotional and social support, advocacy and care coordination; and surrogacy. The immediate and extended family members experiences physical, emotional and social challenge while providing care for the patients suffering with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD). Aim of the study: The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of caring and support need of family caregivers of patients with end stage renal diseases, undergoing hemodialysis at selected hemodialysis units in Rwanda. Methodology: The phenomena of family care giving were explored in this study. This study used a phenomenological exploratory qualitative design to explore the experience of caring and support need of family caregivers of patient with ESRD. Purposive sampling was used to access 12 family caregivers with a lived experience of caring patient with ESRD on HD. Data was collected using semi-structured interview guide. Qualitative content was used to identify prominent themes and Data was organized, coded, and categories and themes were created to describe all aspects of each the content. Result: Five major themes were emerged from the analysis of the transcripts: “Personnel issues”, “Spiritual issues”, “Sense of satisfaction”, “financial issues” and “need for policy change theme need emerged”. Conclusion: The role of the family caregiver in caring this patient exposes him to a lot of stress. Nurses should use the findings to support the family caregiver of patients undergoing hemodialysis.