Dialysis Case Study

Case Study  Carla Waters is a 66-year-old female who has been on dialysis for six months. She is finally getting used to the demanding schedule of spending most of three full days a week preparing for her treatments, traveling to and from the center, and discomfort of being on the machine for hours at a time. She does not like that it takes her away from her grandkids and the comfort of her own home so regularly, but that is a sacrifice she is willing to make.  Carla has struggled with her weight and her diabetes for a long time. She has been trying to keep all these new rules and restrictions with her diet straight, but it is complicated and her memory is not what it used to be. Lately the dietitian has focused on her consumption of mac and cheese. Apparently, it is bad for her for all kinds of reasons, but this recipe is her claim to fame, it is the one that everyone asks for when she is providing food for events like church functions and birthday parties. On top of all the stress she is feeling with the changes to her lifestyle that kidney failure has created, she has a deep fear of needles and dreads every time she has to be hooked up to the dialysis machine. Even though it is much easier having a fistula in place, it is still the worst part of her dialysis treatment; even worse than the nausea she feels during treatment.  Carla is new to your facility. She has expressed that the dialysis staff at her previous facility treated her as though she did not care about her own health or treatment plan, and they were not understanding of her fear of needles. She does care about her health; she wants to watch her grandchildren grow up, she doesn’t want her health to keep spiraling down, and she would like to eventually get a kidney transplant. She knows she needs to stay healthy to do all this and feels she has been trying her best to follow the complex rules and endure being hooked up to the dialysis machine. Prompt In thinking about your role and how you would interact with Carla, how would you ensure she had a warm welcome to the clinic, and show empathy towards her situation knowing what you do about her dietary struggles and fear of needles?  Your task is to write, using complete sentences, a clear introduction, body, and conclusion style essay of 400-600 words free of grammatical or spelling errors.