Peritoneal Dialysis in the Pacific

Abstract

Peritoneal dialysis (PD) in the Pacific is the predominant dialysis modality for home dialysis patients. Patient location, age, personal preference, and medical condition are all taken into consideration. However, with the steadily increasing number of patients on PD, financial constraints are now affecting the nurse-patient ratios. As a consequence, PD nurses are constantly seeking new and improved clinical practice regimes with which they can provide and maintain quality, cost-effective nursing care. To enable PD nurses to provide such care, they are now, more than ever, involved in patient, professional, and management issues. These patient issues include, but are not limited to: the elderly, the diabetic, the indigenous patient, and their carers, peritonitis, exit-site infection, and adequate dialysis. Professional issues include the development of standards of clinical practice, nursing research, quality improvement, and tertiary education. Management issues are constantly encroaching into the clinical practice setting, therefore the PD nurse must now justify spending, develop strategic plans, and meet annual budgets. In conclusion, it can be seen that PD nurses in the Pacific are faced with similar patient-care, professional, and management issues as their counterparts throughout the world.