Kidney disease is on the rise worldwide. Currently, there are an estimated two million Canadians living with the disease or at risk for developing it. As such, there is an urgent and growing need for health practitioners who understand how kidney disease develops and how to manage lack of kidney function when it does occur. When kidney function is impaired, a replacement therapy such as hemodialysis is mandatory; without it, kidney disease is fatal.
In 2008, there were 36,638 Canadians on renal replacement therapy. This number is expected to double over the next 10 years.
Dialysis units require specialized hemodialysis machines and highly skilled staff to perform individualized replacement treatments. Hemodialysis is an extremely complex renal replacement therapy requiring a very specific knowledge and skill set to manage out-patient critical care patients.
BCIT’s Specialty Nursing Nephrology Certificate program provides valuable theoretical knowledge as well as essential lab and clinical instruction to students who wish to learn about renal disease, dialysis and the renal continuum of care.
Recently, BCIT’s nephrology specialty nursing program received a new, state-of-the-art hemodialysis machine, the BBraun, from donor Chief Medical Supplies Ltd.
Left: The BBraun hemodialysis machine
The donation came about after Kate Sullivan, Operations Leader at St Paul’s Hospital, contacted Chief Medical Supplies to open up a dialogue about training on the new machines. St Paul’s was the only unit using this new machine and BCIT was the sole provider of theory, lab and clinical teaching in the area of hemodialysis. Shortly after discussions began, with the assistance of Erin Friesen, Marketing Manager, Chief Medical Supplies, plans were put into place to add the machine to Specialty Nursing Nephrology’s fleet of dialysis machines.
Chief Medical Supplies isn’t the first company to have donated equipment to the program. In 2008, BHC Medical donated two machines: the Formula 2000, (currently the most widely-used machine on the market) and the Domas.
The program is grateful for these, and all donations, which help to ensure that BCIT is able to continue to provide specialized and complex training for prospective renal nurses and industry-sponsored students.
Facts (from Kidney.ca):
- Kidney disease is strongly associated with other chronic health conditions: up to 30 percent of people with diabetes and 35 percent of those with heart disease also suffer from some degree of kidney disease.
- Of the 4,167 Canadians on the waiting list for a transplant as of December 31, 2009, 2,941 (71%) were waiting for a kidney.
Well that’s pretty cool. You really do learn something new every day, as I thought Nephrology was an old pseudo-science for judging intelligence by studying the bumps on one’s head. Go figure.