本文主要介紹肝硬化病人的早期症狀及常見合併症，其次討論護理人員照護肝硬化病人所遭遇的困難。肝硬化病人隨其病程進展會出現不同程度的生理症狀，若症狀控制不佳則需反覆入院治療，因此對病人的生活及心理衝擊是多方面的。經回顧文獻及研究結果，本文歸納出護理人員照護肝硬化病人有五項照護困難：(1)不清楚肝硬化疾病分期及病情預後；(2)對肝硬化病人有酗酒習慣的錯誤認知；(3)無法掌握飲食指導的適當時機；(4)改善病人腹水症狀的成效不佳；(5)照護上的無力感。本文並說明上述五項照護困難之解決之道，期能提供臨床護理人員照護肝硬化末期病人的參考，以提升護理照護之品質。

This article introduces the early symptoms and typical comorbidities of patients with cirrhosis, and presents a discussion on the difficulties and challenges encountered by nurses while providing care for these patients. Patients with cirrhosis present physiological symptoms that vary according to the stage of their disease. If a patient’s symptoms are poorly controlled, he/she would require repeated hospitalisation to receive treatment. Thus, the symptoms of this condition exert multidimensional effects on the life and psychologic status of patients. Based on the literature review and these results of this research, the five difficulties encountered by nurses caring for patients with cirrhosis are summarised as follows: (a) the nurses lacked adequate knowledge regarding the stage and prognosis of cirrhosis; (b) the nurses had erroneous cognition regarding the alcohol problems of cirrhosis patients; (c) the nurses failed to determine the appropriate timing for providing dietary guidance; (d) the nursing intervention for improving the patients’ ascites was ineffective; and (e) the nurses felt a sense of powerlessness during the caring process. Finally, we provide recommendations to assist in solving the aforementioned difficulties. These recommendations may provide a reference for clinical nurses in caring for patients with end-stage cirrhosis, thereby enhancing the quality of nursing care.