In-centre night dialysis program: a single-centre experience.

The number of people receiving maintenance haemodialysis (HD) in Australia has increased from 251 per million population in 1995 to 515 per million population in 2014. In-centre night haemodialysis (INHD) was introduced in one unit as a response to the rising numbers of people requiring HD. This study was designed as a quality project to evaluate a new service and its impact on the patients during the first 12 months of the INHD service. Patients were interviewed at initiation of INHD and then at six and 12 months. Thematic analysis was used to provide a descriptive account of receiving HD therapy in an in-centre environment at night. Findings of the study showed that INHD has positive effects on physical health and lifestyle, but that patients also experienced new symptoms related to longer hours of dialysis and poor sleep quality. Patients felt isolated from the rest of the dialysis patients and adapted the INHD environment to suit their own personal needs. INHD is a new approach to the delivery of HD treatments, which has been developed in response to the increasing demand for dialysis services. More study is required into this novel model of care to understand the risks and benefits of INHD to patients and staff, and to optimise the delivery of safe and effective HD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]