Losses, maintenance and recruitment of patients in a peritoneal dialysis home training program.

The St. Peter Hospital Kidney Dialysis Center began a peritoneal dialysis home training program in 1988, and demonstrated steady growth until the end of its sixth year at which time the census plummeted. Peritoneal dialysis staff sought to determine a cause for the reduction in census by evaluating the reasons for drop-out. They concluded that drop-out rates were not unexpected or unusual and that maintenance and referrals are influenced by: (a) patient predialysis education and (b) continual conversation and collaboration between the nephrologists and peritoneal dialysis home training staff.