Structured Nursing Education for Hemodialysis Patients

This randomized controlled trial was designed to evaluate the effects of a structurednurse‐led education program on attitudes toward diet therapy, self‐care activities, andchronic disease self‐management among patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis.The study was carried out in the hemodialysis unit of a private dialysis center in theBlack Sea region of Türkiye. Sixty eligible patients receiving maintenance hemodialysiswere randomly assigned to either an intervention group (n = 30) or a control group (n =30). Cluster randomization at the dialysis‐session level was used to minimizecontamination between participants. Outcome data were analyzed by a blinded statistician.Participants in the intervention group received a structured nurse‐led education programconsisting of eight face‐to‐face sessions delivered over four weeks (two sessions perweek). The educational program included chronic kidney disease and hemodialysis,treatment adherence, dietary therapy, nutritional management, fluid and electrolyterestrictions, self‐care skills, chronic disease self‐management, anemia management, andreinforcement of learning. The control group received routine care without additionaleducational intervention.The primary outcomes were attitudes toward diet therapy, self‐care activities, andchronic disease self‐management. These outcomes were assessed at baseline and immediatelyafter completion of the intervention using validated instruments, including theHemodialysis Patients' Attitudes Toward Diet Therapy Scale (HPADTS), the Self‐CareActivities Screening Scale‐14 (SCAS‐14), and the Chronic Disease Self‐Management Scale(CDSMS).The educational program was developed based on Orem's Self‐Care Deficit Nursing Theoryand was designed to address self‐care, dietary therapy, and chronic diseaseself‐management among patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis.