Main description:

It is late at night, and a patient is admitted to your ward in acute renal failure. Or a woman comes in for a routine renal angiogram. Or the man who recently made the decision to discontinue dialysis slips quietly away. What do you do next? This book has the answers.

If you are involved in caring for people with chronic renal failure, as well as other chronic diseases, this handy guide is a must for you. This practical little book gives the basic information you need to know, and alerts you to those situations when you must call in a senior. It is an essential handbook for anyone on the renal team: doctor, nurse, dietician, social worker, counsellor, educator or expert patient, as well as junior nurses and medical students.

Written by three experts in the field, this will be an invaluable companion, allowing you to approach situations on the renal ward with confidence. And it fits in your pocket, containing all the information in 112 pages!

Includes:

*A 'fact-file' of information about the most vital points of nephrology
*Essential links to Renal Association Standards
*Addresses the NSF for renal patients
*The key points highlighted throughout as 72 Vital Points
*'Patient education' sections to help you explain the difficult topics in lay terms

Contents:

Chronic renal failure (CRF). Renal biopsy. Renal angiogram. Assessment of acute renal failure. Management of acute renal failure. Nephrotic syndrome. Renal bone disease. Anaemia and EPO. Peritoneal dialysis and catheter insertion. Peritonitis and other problems with PD. Vasular assess for haemodialysis. Complications of haemodialysis catheters. Transplants. Non-concordance with treatment. Death and bereavement. Appendix: Hints on prescribing; Glossarey of abbreviations. Further reading.