Learned helplessness is an early psychological concept with unclear implications for renal nursing, particularly among dialysis patients. The authors aimed to analyze learned helplessness in these patients to improve understanding within renal nursing. Using Rodgers’ evolutionary concept analysis method, a systematic literature search across five databases was conducted. The analysis process involved narrowing relevant articles, extracting data, and identifying attributes, antecedents, consequences, surrogate terms, and related terms.

The study included 22 articles, identifying four attributes of learned helplessness in renal dialysis patients: low self-concept, perceived loss, negative cognitive set, and abandonment of action. Antecedents were sociodemographic characteristics, disease and treatment factors, and psychological factors. Consequences were categorized into psychological problems, physiological issues, quality of life, and health-related behaviors. Surrogate terms were hopelessness and powerlessness, with depression as a related term. The study highlights gaps in awareness and practice challenges related to learned helplessness in dialysis patients and suggests the findings can guide the design of tools and interventions to better incorporate learned helplessness theory into nursing practice.

Reference: Xie C, Li L, Li Y. Learned Helplessness in Renal Dialysis Patients: Concept Analysis with an Evolutionary Approach. Patient Prefer Adherence. 2022;16:2301-2312. doi: 10.2147/PPA.S373134.