DaVita Dialysis Center

Davita Dialysis Center was one of my favorite rotations, particularly because it was challenging-because of the material but also the need to truly understand my patients and their needs before trying to change their habits. You have to take truly complicated material and explain it in very simple terms, something I struggled with at the beginning, but by the time I returned for staff relief, became much easier. I had a unique situation in which I was able to work with hemodialysis (HD), At-home HD and peritoneal dialysis patients, and was able to learn a lot from speaking with the patients. I reviewed labs, provided diet educations and attended Quality Care meetings, as well as experienced "clinic days". During staff relief, I was allowed to chart on patients in both Falcon and Snappy (documentation programs). 



Some of the projects I completed at this rotation include: 



• Created a Bulletin Board: I developed an Emergency Meal Planning Bulletin Board which focuses on four key components: why one should plan for emergencies, how to prepare for an emergency, an emergency dialysis grocery list and supplies, and key tips to remember in an emergency. Photos of this bulletin board are above. 





• Developed Dialysis Diet Menus: I followed a HD diet for three days prior to starting the rotation, as it was a suggestion on the study guide. Apparently I was only the third intern to do this project in the past seven years. Following the diet gave me more appreciation for the changes my patients had to make and allowed me to understand the difficulties and intricacies of actually following the diet. I also had to develop a 3 day diet for the HD patient based on certain criteria provided by the renal RD. 





Supervised Practice Time: 160 hours