About one in five patients who are emergency admissions to hospital will present with acute kidney injury (AKI), a condition that involves the loss of kidney function over hours or days. Despite its prevalence, there are low levels of awareness and education about AKI among healthcare professionals. Care is often below the standard it should be, with only a third of patients receiving adequate investigations, according to a 2009 report from the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (NCEPOD).
AKI used to be known as acute renal failure. The term encompasses a wide range of injury to the kidneys, not just failure.
Nursing Standard. 28, 4, 21-21. doi: 10.7748/ns2013.09.28.4.21.s26
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