Vol. 7, Issue 2, Part C (2025)

Introduction: Hemodialysis is one of the methods for treating chronic renal failure. There are two types of vascular access for its implementation - arteriovenous anastomosis and central venous catheters. Permanent or so-called tunneled catheters are the more commonly used vascular access to the extracorporeal circulation. Dialysis nurses have a number of specific competencies, one of which is training patients in the care of their tunneled catheter. It is extremely important that patients comply with the instructions given to them in order to prevent the occurrence of complications.

Material and Methods: A study was conducted among 43 nurses working in dialysis facilities in Pleven, Lovech, Cherven Bryag, Silistra, Sevlievo, Veliko Tarnovo, Vidin. The dialysis departments and centers were of different levels of competence. Sociological methods were used - a direct individual survey with 18 closed and 2 open questions; statistical methods - variance analysis of qualitative variables and graphic analysis. Statistical data processing was performed with the SPSS v.26 program.

Results: Respondents who participated in the study with over 20 years of experience in dialysis facilities were 34.9%. Nurses (90.7%) actively trained patients on how to care for the tunneled catheter, 7% relied on the patient's desire and motivation to take care of their health and answered "Yes, when asked", 2.3% or 1 respondent did not give instructions to patients.

Patients did not follow the instructions given to them, the most common reasons being low health literacy (77.4%), passive attitude (25.8%) and poor living conditions (19.4%), according to the nurses.

Conclusion: A condition for preventing infections, for conducting quality hemodialysis and a good quality of life is the training of patients by nurses and effective compliance with the instructions for care of the tunneled catheter by patients.