INTRODUCTION

You are nurses working in a large dialysis center where you are responsible for general patient care (which includes patient history and assessment) and patient education. One afternoon, a new patient is evaluated for hemodialysis treatment. She is a 50 year old African American woman with a diagnosis of kidney disease as a result of Type 2 diabetes mellitus. She is upset about being on dialysis and immediately starts asking questions about when she can get a kidney transplant. Together, you try to provide her with the information she may need.

What will your team do ... What evidence will you find ... to provide this patient with the information she needs about Type 2 diabetes mellitus, hemodialysis, and kidney transplantation?

This patient is depending on you and your team so that she may find out more about her illness and what it means for her life!