A Reflection on the Nurse And Renal Transplant: A Miracle Of Modern Medicine

摘要

Since the first kidney transplant in 1954, the state of the science for this surgery has continued to progress, with steadily increasing success and survival rates. The National Kidney Foundation reports that over 17,000 kidney transplants were performed in 2014. This column details the operative process and the importance of the role of the nurse in the transplant process. According to information published by the National Kidney Foundation (NKF] (2019), over 600,000 patients suffer with end stage renal disease every year. Medications and therapeutic modalities provide temporary relief and comfort to many in need; however, the definitive treatment is transplant surgery, and patient survival has steadily increased due to the combination of surgical technique and immunosppuessive medications (Wang, Skeans, & Israni, 2016). There have been more than 450,000 transplants over the last decade, and in 2018, there were 19,362 renal transplant surgeries performed (NKF, 2019). Unfortunately, most patients endure a lengthy waiting period of 5 to 7 years undergoing outpatient dialysis treatment while waiting for a matching donor. A large number of these patients succumb to their disease before they can be matched with a donor kidney.