November 5, 2009

RVH dialysis partnership receives national attention

Renfrew Victoria Hospital was on display at the recent Canadian Association of Nephrology Nurses and Technologists conference in New Brunswick. Dialysis Nurses Janice Verch-Whittington, left, and Kim Watkins, right, proudly display the poster that outlined the innovative partnership they have developed with The Ottawa Hospital to keep care as close as possible to home.

With the help of video technology, the RVH nephrology team has partnered up with specialists from The Ottawa Hospital to lead the province with an innovative approach to treating patients with chronic kidney disease.

The need for patients to travel for regular appointments in the city has almost been eliminated now that the care is offered at RVH through the Ontario Telehealth Network.

There are many benefits to the telemedicine clinic approach which took effect in February of this year, says Janice Verch-Whittington, RVH’s dialysis nurse manager.

“Decreased travel for the patients is obviously a major one,” she notes, adding, “The other is that there’s no longer a need to transport medical information and supplies from Ottawa to RVH.”

She also highlights the strong, supportive, collaborative relationship that has developed between the RVH team and the nephrology professionals at The Ottawa Hospital.

A large poster highlighting the partnership was selected for presentation at the recent Canadian Association of Nephrology Nurses and Technologists (CANNT) conference in Saint John, N.B. “Partners in Peritoneal Dialysis” was one of just 27 posters featured at CANNT this year.

Kim Watkins, peritoneal dialysis nurse manager at RVH, and three other dialysis nurses from Renfrew attended the conference and were able to share their success story with other professionals in the field.

Prior to 2006, patients always had to travel to Ottawa for management of peritoneal dialysis (PD), a home therapy for patients with severe kidney disease. When RVH implemented its own PD program, on-site clinics were arranged to serve Renfrew County patients already under the care of The Ottawa Hospital team. However, the travel for the Ottawa team became unsustainable.

“So we decided to take to the next step,” Watkins says, describing the monthly video conferences that allow the Ottawa caregivers and their patients to meet without travel. RVH nurses participate with the patients and assist with the professional assessments.

Watkins and Verch-Whittington say they have worked very closely with their colleagues to develop a program that incorporates Ottawa’s polices and expertise while allowing the patients to stay closer to home and receive follow-up care in Renfrew County.

As far as they know, it’s the only program of its kind in Ontario and perhaps across the country.

Watkins says there was a really good response to the information she presented at CANNT, especially from nurses from Vancouver Island and Cape Breton where PD patients also face long travel distances for care.

Watkins says the conference, which was held October 15 to 18, was the coming together of many professionals to share ideas, successes and the challenges faced in treating kidney disease patients.

“It packs a whole lot of learning into three days,” comments Verch-Whittington, noting that patients always benefit from the new ideas and enthusiasm gained by their caregivers who attend such professional events.

Registered Nurses Arlene Deloughery, Linda Carroll and Barbara Roy are all members of the RVH dialysis team and were among the 450 professionals to attend the conference in New Brunswick.

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(For more information, contact Randy Penney, CEO, Renfrew Victoria Hospital, 613-432-4851, ext. 260.)