BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Clinical Nutrition
Bridging the Nutritional Care Gap: Nurse-Led Education for Potassium Control in Hemodialysis Patients
Provisionally accepted
Marouane OUIRDANI1*
Amal Boutib2
Fatima Ezzahra Fernane3
Hilali Abderraouf3El Madani Saad3Abdelghafour Marfak2,4
Ibtissam Youlyouz-Marfak2,3- 1Hassan Premier University, Settat, Morocco
- 2Universite Euro-Mediterraneenne de Fes Centre de Recherche Euromed, Fes, Morocco
- 3Universite Hassan 1er, Settat, Morocco
- 4Ecole Nationale de Sante Publique, Rabat, Morocco
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Word count: 228 Background: In Morocco, a persistent gap exists between recommended standards of care and routine clinical practice in hemodialysis units, largely due to high clinical workload of nephrologists and the absence of dietitians in several public hemodialysis centers. This shortage restricts individualized dietary and lifestyle counseling. This study aimed to explore the feasibility and potential clinical relevance of a simple, nurse-led educational intervention designed for hemodialysis centers operating without nutrition specialists. Methods: A quasi-experimental, single-arm, pre–post pilot study was conducted from February to June 2025 among 30 hemodialysis patients from three Moroccan centers with no permanent or visiting dietitians. The educational program focused on dietary potassium management, fluid intake control, thirst management strategies, and basic physical activity recommendations. Outcomes included serum potassium levels, quality of life (EQ-5D-5L), and interdialytic weight gain, assessed at baseline (T0) and post–intervention (T1). Results: Serum potassium levels significantly decreased after the intervention (p = 0.002), and the proportion of patients within the recommended range (4–5 mmol/L) increased from 36.7% at T0 to 46.7% at T1. No statistically significant changes were observed in quality of life or interdialytic weight gain. Conclusion: In this pilot study, a nurse-led educational intervention was associated with improved serum potassium control among hemodialysis patients in resource-limited settings lacking specialized nutrition personnel. However, no meaningful changes were observed in interdialytic weight gain or quality of life, suggesting that more intensive or individualized interventions may be required to influence these outcomes.
Keywords: Health Education, hemodialysis, interdialytic weight gain, Quality of Life, Serum potassium
Received: 23 Nov 2025; Accepted: 31 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 OUIRDANI, Boutib, Fernane, Abderraouf, Saad, Marfak and Youlyouz-Marfak. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Marouane OUIRDANI
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