Healthy life of Korean patients with chronic kidney failure undergoing hemodialysis: A situation-specific nursing theory

Purpose: This study explored to develop a situation-specific theory explaining the healthy life of Korean patients with chronic kidney failure undergoing hemodialysis. Background: Chronic kidney failure (CKF) patients have to reorganize their lives around their hemodialysis sessions for their survival. Nursing interventions based on specific theories may promote their health-related behaviors and outcomes. However, few theoretical frameworks or theories are available to guide hemodialysis patients on how to construct their lives under various constraints, while considering their experiences and sociocultural contexts. Methods: An integrated approach was used to develop the situation-specific theory based on the network episode model (NEM), a review of related literature, and four of the authors' studies on hemodialysis patients' lives. Results: The major concepts in the proposed theory include sociocultural context, social networks, individual-level factors, illness experiences, health-related behaviors, and health outcomes. Each major concept includes several relevant subconcepts. Conclusions: We used this theory to identify factors involved in shaping the illness experiences, health-related behaviors, and outcomes of Korean CKF patients undergoing hemodialysis. By exploring the links between these factors, we explained the healthy life that considers the uniqueness of Korean patients' sociocultural context, social network, and individual-level factors. Nurse and other healthcare professionals could integrate the proposed situation-specific theory into the development of nursing interventions based on this theory to promote health-related behaviors and outcomes of Korean CKF patients undergoing hemodialysis.