Chronic kidney disease, also known as renal disease, is a condition which leads to a gradual loss of renal function and results in kidney failure, or end-stage renal disease. While chronic kidney disease is generally recognized as progressive and irreversible, a variety of treatments exist which help manage the condition by slowing down the deterioration of kidney function (Slow Progression and Reduce Complications, n.d., para. 1).
In this paper, the researcher seeks to address the issue of chronic kidney disease management. The purpose of this paper is to use the evidence-based approach and evaluate current clinical evidence on the value of different treatments of chronic kidney disease and their effectiveness in slowing down the progress of the disease.
The following is the research question formulated using the PICOT (population, intervention, comparison, outcome, time) clinical question model: In the population of patients suffering from chronic kidney disease (P), how do various types of treatment (I) affect the progression of the disease (O) compared to each other (C) in 5 years?
The clinical question indicates that a variety of clinical evidence is to be examined to determine what types of treatment are the most effective in slowing down the progress of the renal disease. The outcome of interest measured in the amount of time it took for the disease to progress to the next stage. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the patients’ outcomes concerning the treatment prescribed.
Due to the nature of the clinical question, it is evident that a quasi-experimental type of study is to be conducted. This type of study implies that participants are not randomly assigned to the type of treatment, and control is lacking on the part of the researcher since other, possibly unknown factors might affect research results (Experiments and Quasi-Experiments, n.d.).
I believe that the evidence-based approach is applicable not only for health services research but also for making educated diagnostic decisions. The evidence-based approach means using the best available clinical evidence to make informed decisions (Romana, 2006). The role of a nurse is essential when treating patients with chronic kidney disease, and to provide better quality treatment I have to consult the current best evidence on which approaches to treatment are most beneficial for the patient. All nurses are committed to further advancing medical science by implementing research evidence in their work (LoBiondo-Wood, & Haber, 2014, p. 7).
This fact means that as a nurse, I must be a knowledgeable consumer of research and apply its results in medical practice. Thus, the theoretical framework chosen for the paper includes scholarly papers and books which describe case studies and clinical trials and contain relevant terms, such as “chronic kidney disease”.
The selected body of literature is to have scientifically valid evidence. An example of such a paper is a study done by Balogun and Bolton in 2016 that could be used to assess the effectiveness of various clinical interventions (Balogun & Bolton, 2016, par. 1). The theoretical framework of the paper implies using the evidence-based approach to formulate guidelines that will support health care providers in patient management.
The issue of decreasing the progression of chronic kidney disease is acute one due to a large number of patients and their reliance on treatment to improve the quality of life (Levey & Coresh, 2012, p. 165). It is important to use current clinical evidence to improve the quality of care and delay the development of the condition.
References
Balogun, R. A., & Bolton, W. K. (2016). Chronic Kidney Disease: A Brief Review for the Primary Care Physician.
Experiments and Quasi-Experiments. (n.d.).
Levey, A., & COresh, J. (2012). Chronic Kidney Disease. The Lancet, 379(9811): 165-180. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60178-5
LoBiondo-Wood, G., & Haber, J. (2014). Nursing Research: Methods and Critical Appraisal for Evidence-Based Practice. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier Health Sciences.
Romana, H. (2006). Is Evidence-Based Medicine Patient-Centered and Is Patient-Centered Care Evidence-Based? Health Services Research Journal, 41(1), 1-8. doi:10.1111/j.1475-6773.2006.00504.x
Slow Progression and Reduce Complications. (n.d.)