Educating Primary Care Nurses on Phosphorus Management in Chronic Kidney Disease Patients

Fifteen percent of adults in the United States have been diagnosed with chronic kidney disease (CKD). CKD is the slow, progressive, and irreversible loss of kidney function. The most effective means of controlling CKD is by managing dietary phosphorus intake. It is important that staff nurses be educated about effective patient education tools to improve dietary phosphorus management. The purpose of this project was to educate primary care nurses about phosphorus management in CKD patients through the introduction of the phosphorus pyramid as a visual tool. The project sought to understand if an educational intervention regarding phosphorus management in CKD patients could increase the primary care nurse\u27s knowledge. The John Hopkins evidence-based practice model informed the development of this project. Ten primary care nurses participated in a 45-minute education program which focused on the use of the Phosphorus Pyramid. A pre and post-test of knowledge was completed via a Likert scale questionnaire that measured knowledge related to the educational objectives of the program. The posttest scores showed an increase of 15% overall in staff\u27s knowledge regarding dietary phosphorus management, the participants were more likely to correctly answer questions related to the phosphorus content of food and drink. The phosphorus pyramid will serve as a user-friendly tool to assist patients in identifying high phosphorus foods that need to be avoided and low phosphorus foods that are recommended to incorporate in their renal diet. This project supports social change by improving the healthcare team\u27s knowledge regarding dietary recommendations for CKD patients thereby contributing to improved patient outcomes and reduced healthcare costs