Self‐management experiences of haemodialysis patients with self‐regulatory fatigue: A phenomenological study

Abstract Aim To understand the real experiences of self‐management in haemodialysis patients with self‐regulatory fatigue, and to explore the influencing factors and coping strategies for patients with decreased self‐management. Design A qualitative study was carried out using the phenomenological analysis method. Methods From 5 January to 25 February, 2022, semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 18 haemodialysis patients in Lanzhou, China. Thematic analysis of the data was performed using the NVivo 12 software based on the 7 steps of Colaizzi's method. The study reporting followed the SRQR checklist. Results Five themes and 13 sub‐themes were identified. The main themes were difficulties in fluid restrictions and emotional management, hard to adhere to long‐term self‐management, uncertainty about self‐management, influencing factors are complex and diverse and coping strategies should be further improved. Conclusion This study revealed the difficulties, uncertainty, influencing facts and coping strategies of self‐management among haemodialysis patients with self‐regulatory fatigue. A targeted program should be developed and implemented according to the characteristics of patients to reduce the level of self‐regulatory fatigue and improve self‐management. Impact Self‐regulatory fatigue has a significant impact on the self‐management behaviour of haemodialysis patients. Understanding the real experiences of self‐management in haemodialysis patients with self‐regulatory fatigue enables medical staff to correctly identify the occurrence of self‐regulatory fatigue in time and help patients adopt positive coping strategies to keep effective self‐management behaviour. Patient or Public contribution Haemodialysis patients who met the inclusion criteria were recruited to participate in the study from a blood purification centre in Lanzhou, China.