Background & Aim: Physical and psychosocial problems along with the changes in life style, put hemodialysis patients under pressure. It seems that social support decreases psychological stresses and improves quality of life. This study aimed to describe hemodialysis patients&apos perceptions on their social supports and related factors.

Methods & Materials: This descriptive-correlational study is a part of a larger study. All patients (n=202) referred to the hemodialysis units of Iran University of Medical Sciences were recruited to the study during a four-months period. Data were collected using "Personal Resources Questionnaire" (PRQ 85-PART 2) and analyzed using SPSS v.14.

Results: Findings revealed that the most patients (64.9%) had perceived social support at high levels. There were significant relationships between social support with economic status, gender and marital status (P<0.05). Findings also indicated that the statements of "I enjoy doing little extra things that make another person&aposs life more pleasant" and, "I belong to a group in which I feel important" had the highest and lowest scores respectively.

Conclusion: Regarding the variety of perceptions in hemodialysis patients on social support and its related factors, nurses can prevent social isolation of these patients through identification of high risk groups and can also reduce their stresses and help them to improve their quality of life by providing adequate supportive interventions.

Background & Aim: Intradialytic hypotension is the most frequent complication in patients receiving haemodialysis (HD). This complication not only contributes to the illness of the patients, but also decreases the efficacy of the HD. So, hypotension prevention is a major challenge for medical team, especially for nurses. One of the preventive methods that have recently been presented is the use of sodium profile and ultra filtration (UF) profile. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of linear sodium + UF profile (type1) with stepwise sodium + UF profile (type3) on systolic and diastolic blood pressure in HD patients.

Methods & Materials: In this crossover design study, 26 HD patients from two dialysis centers at Esfahan University underwent three kinds of treatment: (1) control, constant dialysate sodium concentration of 138 mmol/L with constant UF (2) linear sodium profile + UF profile (type1), a linearly decreasing dialysate sodium concentration (146-138mmol/L) in combination with a linearly decreasing UF rate and (3) stepwise sodium profile + UF profile (type2), a stepwise decreasing dialysate sodium concentration (146-138 mmol/L) in combination with a stepwise decreasing UF rate. Each treatment was applied in three dialysis sessions. Data were analyzed using repeated measure ANOVA test in the SPSS.

Results: Twenty six patients participated in the study. A total of 234 dialysis sessions were analyzed. There were no significant differences in the systolic blood pressure between three groups during predialysis and first and the second hours (P>0.05). The mean of systolic blood pressures were higher in the third hour and postdialysis during two types of profiles (1&3) compared with the routine care group (P<0.05). The mean of diastolic blood pressure was also higher in postdialysis during two types of profiles (1&3) compared with the routine group (P<0.05). There was no significant difference between the profiles 1and 3 (P>0.05).

Conclusion: In conclusion, sodium profile + UF profile is a simple and cost-effective method that modulate the dialysate sodium and ultra filtration rate and preserve the homodynamic status and blood pressure of patients during dialysis. Therefore, using sodium profile + UF profile (type1 & type3) is recommended in order to prevent hypotension and reduce nursing work during hemodialysis process.