The Nephrology service at the University Hospital of Guadalajara, part of the Castilla-La Mancha Health Service (Sescam), has once again been recognized for its commitment to excellence in care and its dedication to research and continuous improvement.
The Nephrology team in Guadalajara has won the award for best oral communication at the XXX Congress of the Castilla-La Mancha Nephrology Society (Socamane) for the third consecutive year, held in Ciudad Real, as reported by the Junta in a press release.
The awarded work, titled ‘Pruritus in hemodialysis patients: nursing strategies for its management,’ was developed by Diana Carolina Vanegas, Sheyla Parejo, Tamara de Castro, Susana Rosa Senra, and Ana María Sal.
The work highlights the importance of pruritus and nursing strategies for its management. Pruritus is an irritating sensation that causes a desire to scratch and is one of the most uncomfortable symptoms with a significant impact on the quality of life of people on dialysis.
To conduct this work, a bibliographic analysis of the last five years was carried out, concluding that pruritus affects more than half of people on hemodialysis, and nursing plays a fundamental role in health education to alleviate its symptoms. The work also emphasized the importance of understanding the causes to provide individualized treatment.
In this regard, the work emphasizes the need to measure, reassess, and monitor pruritus using assessment tools and proposes various actions such as creating a leaflet to provide patients with guidance on their treatment.
The jury appreciated the relevance of the topic due to the impact of pruritus on the quality of life of patients and valued the methodology of the work, scientific and ethical criteria, and the positive impact that the proposed measures can have on patients.
The award, as highlighted by the Nephrology supervisor at the Hospital de Guadalajara, Susana Rosa Senra, «recognizes and values the daily work of the service’s nurses, the pursuit of continuous improvement, and the updating of knowledge to constantly seek measures to enhance the quality of life of patients, always through coordinated work with all service professionals.»
In this sense, it underscores the commitment of the entire Nephrology team to continuous improvement and caring in a more close and dignified manner, «alleviating and accompanying patients with respect, empathy, and excellence.»
For the past four years, Socamane has brought nephrologists and nurses together at its regional conferences to exchange experiences and knowledge to advance Nephrology in Castilla-La Mancha.
In addition to the award received at the last edition of these conferences, in 2023, a work presented by the nurses of Nephrology in Guadalajara was also awarded, specifically the work ‘Implementation of an improvement project: implementation of a Clinical Practice Guide in the Dialysis Unit,’ presented by Leticia Sanz de la Torre, and last year, the work ‘The nurse as a change agent. ERCA Nurse: a necessary link,’ presented by Tamara de Castro, was also awarded.
Kidney diseases have experienced a significant increase in recent years due to the aging population and chronic diseases that predispose their appearance, often related to current lifestyle habits. It is estimated that between 10 and 15 percent of the population suffers from kidney disease, and by 2040, it could be the fifth leading cause of death in the world.
For this reason, conferences like these are essential to share experiences that allow for improvements, alternative therapies, individualized treatments, and prevention, aspects that require coordinated and interdisciplinary work.
FUENTE