Looking back, my memories take me to 1970 at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, now known as Brigham and Women's Hospital, where I started my career in dialysis as a technician. From there I applied and was hired to work at The Kidney Center in Boston, where I worked while attending nursing school. I continued to work full-time and part-time through school, marriage, and raising a family.
As a care provider for patients on dialysis, I came to realize that patients and staff develop a special bond. As I grew in my profession, I continued to gain a better understanding of how individuals deal with their illnesses, and that fear of the unknown plays a major part in how one reacts. Losing autonomy, adjusting to a new way of living, changing one's diet, changes in body image, and depending on a dialysis machine for survival is devastating.
I knew I was helping dialysis patients at work by providing the best care I could as a dialysis nurse. But I wanted to do more. Lecturing to patients while they were being dialyzed was not the right way to help them understand what happens in the body because of renal failure.
My concern was that patients have very little information about dialysis before starting treatment. My goals are to help patients gain a better understanding of dialysis and their treatment options: hemodialysis versus peritoneal dialysis, transplant versus no transplant, and the different types of access such as the arteriovenous fistula and the arteriovenous graft. I want patients to understand how dialysis works to help their body keep its balance, so they can continue living a normal life.