The “Ability to Listen” as an Instrument in Dialysis: A Survey

Abstract

Understanding the needs of who is in front of us, welcoming, accepting and guiding people that asks for help, being authentic, able to listen and understanding are all skills and abilities needed for any counseling professional who chose to follow this difficult and challenging career path. In this article, we will examine the relationship between the nurse and the patient in the field of dialysis. The study was conducted from May 28 to June 15, 2012 by distributing a questionnaire to uremic patients and nursing staff working at the Operative Unit of Hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis and pre-dialysis of the S. Orsola Hospital in Bologna. Aims of the research: • verify the existence and the degree of an educational communicative relationship between patients and nurses; • determine if the quality of the communication is equally perceived by both nurses and patients; • determine if the specific communication induced beneficial effects on the psychology of the patients; specifically, if it enabled the patient to face the social, psychological and domestic difficulties determined by the disease and its treatment in daily life.