4/1+ Weekly Staff Support Calls

Beginning April 1, 2020, the Coalition for Supportive Care of Kidney Patients will hold a weekly half-hour Open Discussion for Professional Providers of Supportive Care for Kidney Patients with COVID-19.  If you have concerns about how to address the supportive care needs of kidney disease patients who have COVID-19, join members of the Coalition’s Executive Committee (Alvin Moss, MD; Dale Lupu, MPH, PhD; Elizabeth Anderson, LCSW, DSW; Glenda Harbert, RN, CPHQ, CNN) weekly for Open Discussion.  All professional providers of supportive care of kidney patients are welcome.  It is hard to know what we will all need the coming weeks.  Attendance is free.  If you feel stuck, have questions, or want to connect with colleagues, join the Discussion any Wednesday at 11:30 am Pacific Time, at https://zoom.us/j/376000936.  For more information, see http://go.gwu.edu/opendiscussion.

Network Guidance on COVID-19 Stress for Staff

Networks 16 and 18 have assembled a web page on Healthcare Workers – Coping with Infectious Disease Outbreaks in the Dialysis Setting.  In addition to guidance for maintaining your own health in situations of extreme stress, it includes links to the SAMHSA Disaster Distress Helpline (in English, Spanish, and 14 other languages) and their document on Taking Care of Your Behavioral Health: Tips for Social Distancing, Quarantine, and Isolation during an Infectious Disease Outbreak.  Find the Network web page at http://www.esrdnetwork18.org/wp-content/uploads/20200313-Coping-with-ID-Outbreaks.pdf.  While it’s aimed at facility staff, patients will also find it useful for managing their own stress.

NW16 5/16+ CNSW Educational Conference

The CNSW Northwest Chapter will hold their Spring 2019 Educational Conference in Issaquah WA May 16-17, 2019.  Topics include self care, low mood, depression, rage, despair, suicide, and involuntary discharge.  Find Conference details and registration by check at https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/nwrn.org/files/CNSW/CNSW0519.Brochure.pdf, and registration by credit card at https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/nwrn.org/files/CNSW/CNSW0519.Register.pdf.  Registration must be postmarked by May 10, 2019.

3/8 Mindfulness & Patient Safety WIHI

IHI will present a March 8, 2018 “WIHI” on Mindfulness and Patient Safety.  When we’re “mindful” we’re paying attention to what’s happening in the Present Moment instead of reviewing the past or planning the future.  Mindfulness is also a powerful stress reduction and self-care technique.  Find more information, sample exercises, and relevant links, and register, at http://www.ihi.org/education/AudioVideo/WIHI/mindfulness-and-patient-safety/Pages/default.aspx.  Find ten introductory exercises at http://www.ihi.org/communities/blogs/10-mindfulness-exercises-for-the-health-care-workplace.

Right to Self-Cannulate

Home Dialysis Central  has published a thorough summary of the right that a patient has to “be informed about and participate, if desired, in all aspects of his or her care” [42 CFR 494.70(a)(5)], including self-cannulation.  A facility that denies a competent patient the right to be trained to self-cannulate is vulnerable to state survey citation tags V456, V512, and V585.  Find the summary at http://homedialysis.org/news-and-research/blog/214-self-cannulation-a-patient-right-and-cms-expectation-for-interested-and-trained-patients .

7/13 IHI Self-Care Audio

IHI will sponsor a free July 13, 2017 audio presentation on “Greater Satisfaction, Outcomes, and Savings with Self-Administered Care,” reporting on recent improvements in outcomes when patients are trained to do their own dialysis or other health care.  Find full details and register at http://www.ihi.org/education/AudioVideo/WIHI/greater-satisfaction-outcomes-and-savings-with-self-administered-care/Pages/default.aspx/ .

7/18 NW18 Quality Conference

The HealthInsight ESRD Network 18 Quality Conference 2017 will be held in Los Angeles on July 18, 2017.  Onsite parking, continental breakfast, and lunch are all included in the $25 registration fee.  All Dialysis staff are invited – PCTs, RNs, SWs, dietitians, nephrologists, management, regional staff, support staff, and more will all benefit.  Main Topics include palliative care and advance care planning, violence prevention and de-escalation techniques, Alzheimer’s and dementia, emergency planning and preparedness, infection control, self care, and community resources.  Two CEs will be available to RNs and SWs.  Find full details and register at http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=gfuz7mxab&oeidk=a07ee8xffqt1c2df4c8&oseq= .