Articles and Information: Professionals > Happy Living
A Conversation With A Nurse (Podcast)
Mary Houglum is the type of nurse that every dialysis patient would love to have. Her compassion and desire to be a nurse came from a night nurse she had in the hospital when she was 8 years old. This program will let you hear how she takes the time to listen to her patients to answer questions, resolve issues and explain treatments. Mary tells Lori and Stephen that it is important for the patient to be open and honest with their nurses.
|
A Time to Speak
In case you're wondering, Toastmasters is not where you learn the fine art of making toast for breakfast (though a lot of clubs meet at that early hour). Rather, it's a training ground for learning the fine art of public speaking.
After visiting a few Toastmasters clubs in my local area, I decided this would be a beneficial investment of my time. I chose a club and became a member.
|
Holding Infinity in Their Palms: An Ode to Dialysis Patients
Time spent on dialysis is long, 12-to-15 hours a week, plus transportation between home and the dialysis unit; or setting and cleaning the machine if they perform the treatment at home. And, frequently, they feel tired and fatigued after treatment because of the rapid shift in body chemical composition and change in fluid volume. Many of them are in the hospital a lot of times for repeated infections or clotting of the bloodline, or for heart disease and shortness of breath.
|
How to Deal with Difficult Staff (Podcast)
Do you smell microwave popcorn while at dialysis? Has a nurse or technician yelled at you because of your fluid intake? Is waiting in the lobby for 30 minutes or more for your dialysis appointment acceptable? Listen to this weeks show as social worker, Ramiro Valdez, Ph.D gives advice to Lori and Stephen about how to deal with these and other situations. Learn that the staff is sometimes afraid of the patients, just as the patients are afraid of the staff.
|
Interview with the Healthcare Professional - Caregivers Appreciated
Chicken Soup Author LeAnn Thieman, RN, Believes That Dialysis and Other Chronic Illness Caregivers Should Be ‘Honored and Appreciated’
|
It's About Choice: A Benefits vs. Burdens Analysis
"If I couldn't see my life improving on dialysis, I wouldn't want to live."
Many patients make similar statements to show how they feel or how they think when faced with the burdens of dialysis. If they are suffering losses in physical or mental function, they might see their quality of life falling to a level lower than what they could accept. They might choose to simply stop dialysis.
|
Making a Connection (Podcast)
Jack Barnard, motivational speaker, coach, and trainer says you need a true connection with your audience or your healthcare professional and the best way to accomplish this is with a personal story. To aid in the digestion of the material humor is a great tool. He tells you how he was inspired by "Kidney Beans" at a PEPP training session.
|
New Years Resolutions for the Renal Diet
From Thanksgiving to the new year, patients with kidney failure in particular must be careful what and how much they eat. Holiday foods are replete with phosphorus, potassium, and sodium. Therefore, it takes some effort for kidney patients to be extra adherent to their renal diets. Here are some tips from one of our favorite renal dietitians on how to eat healthy year-round
|
Of Loss and Transcendence: Stories From "Healing Through Times of Trouble" (Part One)
Illness awakens an army of ancient thugs: family troubles, old hurts, guilt, fear, resentment of those in power, and our own powerlessness. When everything else has failed, decisions are sometimes delegated to an Ethics Consultation. The goal is to have those who consider themselves expert--nurses, doctors, therapists, social workers, chaplain, lawyers even and those facing the decision, [including] family, friends, and the patient--figure out what's "best."
|
Of Loss and Transcendence: Stories From "Healing Through Times of Trouble" (Part Two)
Once we recognize that we all come to this work to heal one another, that we all are being taught and guided by those for whom we care, we establish true connection. At that moment, we are reunited with hope, support, and pleasure.
|
Spring Fling: Earning Your Dialysis Dollars
"Have you earned your Dialysis Dollars today?"
That was a common question heard throughout the Jane Phillips Dialysis Center in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. We began this motivational program for our patients in November 2006. The social worker and dietitian worked together to develop a way to involve patients in their own healthcare and well-being. Our goal was to get as many patients as possible interested in their lab work and attitude in an effort to improve their health, increase happiness, and encourage hope.
|
The Evaluation and Process of a Kidney Transplant
Anyone who is in or has kidney failure is a potential candidate for a renal transplant. Yet, it's important to know that the procedure comes with both advantages and disadvantages, and it may not be a good choice for everyone.
|
Two Trees in the Forest: A patient's perspective of quality of life.
I wrote a speech a few years back, based on a parable about “Susie,” a fictional character who lived with a chronic illness most of her life. She was in search of the key to a loving relationship. Susie exhausted all angles, to no avail. It seemed no one had the key to lasting love. She talked to her friends and family, and read many books, but nowhere did she find just the right words. Then one day, an old woman approached her as she took a break on her hike through the hills. “What is your problem, my child?” the woman asked, squatting down next to Susie. “Why do you sit with such a long face?”
|
What is the Role of the Healthcare Professional in Linking Kidney Patients With Advocacy Opportunities?
As healthcare professionals, we know how important it is to advocate for the needs of dialysis patients. Patients, too, want to advocate for their own needs and should be the most influential advocates for patients with kidney disease because they are the ones directly affected by the disease and the public programs, like Medicare and Medicaid, that fund the majority of their care.
|
Winning Strategies for Communicating with the Renal Patient
Improving relationships between renal care workers and patients is an important goal to strive for, as it amounts to a “win/win” for everybody. Doctors, nurses, dietitians, social workers and technicians can experience less hassles in a day, and can go home feeling good about what they’re doing, knowing they might have made someone’s day.
|
Working 9-5: What a Way to Make a Living (Podcast)
Are you concerned as a kidney patient about maintaining your current job? Maybe youd like to go back to work, but believe you cant for one reason or another. If this is you or someone you know who is living with kidney failure, this is the show for you. This week on KidneyTalk Lori and Stephen talk with Beth Witten, who speaks, writes, and answers questions from patients and professionals about rehabilitation for the Medical Education Institute and is an expert on the topic of kidney patients staying employed or returning to work. Hear Beths advice regarding job discrimination, insurance, and disability employment plus other interesting facts about working. Tune to your favorite online radio station because there's good news waiting for you!
|
|