[Improvement of nursing quality and outcome in intensive care patients with acute kidney failure]. / Die Verbesserung der Pflegequalität und der Ergebnisse bei intensivpflichtigen Patienten mit akutem Nierenversagen.

Collaboration between the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and nephrology nurses is needed to ensure adequate care of critically ill patients with acute renal failure (ARF). To improve this collaboration a questionnaire was circulated to the 122 ICU nurses in the hospital to appraise their knowledge on ARF. A Refresher Course to update on ARF was then organised. Colleagues' interest in the initiative was elevated: 66% of questionnaires were completed which included 88% of nurses attending the course. The experience showed, through measurable results, that team work is essential to collaborative nursing plans. The initiative allowed improvement in the quality of nurses' communication and was accompanied with a significant reduction in short-term mortality rate of dialyzed ARF patients (45 versus 50%; p = 0.045, chi-square test). Despite the limitations of this short period of observation one year) the results are judged as useful. Collaboration ensures support for colleagues on a daily basis and during critical moments and can encourage appreciation of the nursing profession.