Lesley Miller, MD

Hepatitis C is increasingly an issue for CKD patients. This session will address the campaign to test the at-risk population and outcomes to date. Treatment options, including new pharmacotherapies, cost, and outcomes, also will be discussed.

Sandra Laird, DNP, RN, ACNP-BC, ONCC

Managing pain in patients with CKD is a challenge. This session will focus on the pathophysiology of acute and chronic pain as well as pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic treatment options. Given the current national opioid epidemic, discussion also will address this patient care issue.

Christopher Daigle, MD, FRCSC

Bariatric surgery has associated risks that are compounded in patients with CKD. Bariatric surgical techniques and outcomes will be covered, with emphasis on how to adapt these techniques and outcomes to the care of patients with CKD. Long-term expectations also will be discussed.

Cheri Grigg, DVM, MPH
Shunte Moon, PhD, MPH
Preeti Ravindhran, MPH
Erikka Woolfolk, MPH

National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) Dialysis Event Surveillance reporting is required for Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Quality Incentive Program (QIP) rule. This session will provide a complete introduction to the NHSN Dialysis Event reporting requirements and the surveillance definitions necessary to provide complete and accurate monthly reporting.

This session is offered through a partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to provide training opportunities for nephrology nurses.

Carolyn Latham, DNP, MBA, MSN, RN, CNN

This session will help eliminate the confusion about the alphabet soup that exists in the world of quality. What do QIP and QAI mean? How are they different? What is the significance of a five-star rating? How does it relate to pay for performance? Get the answers to these questions and more during this session.

Rasheed Balogun, MD, FACP, FASN, HP

This session will focus on apheresis, a procedure that is being used more commonly in patients. The established clinical guidelines for the use of apheresis and the top ten topics for ensuring trouble-free procedures will be shared.

Christine Chmielewski, MS, CRNP, CNN-NP, APRN-BC

Labs are drawn frequently on patients with CKD. This session will compare the labs that are needed on a weekly versus a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis. Trends in the values of each lab and the implications of changing lab results will be examined.

Cheri Grigg, DVM, MPH
Shunte Moon, PhD, MPH
Preeti Ravindhran, MPH
Erikka Woolfolk, MPH

Learn how to apply National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) Dialysis Event Surveillance definitions and use NHSN data for performance improvement. The session also will include an introduction to running and interpreting the most popular NHSN reports so you can review your facility's data, including Dialysis Event bloodstream infection (BSI) rates and the BSI Standardized Infection Ratio (SIR).

This session is offered through a partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to provide training opportunities for nephrology nurses.

Beth Ulrich, EdD, RN, FACHE, FAAN

Patient safety became a focus of modern health care when medical errors became news. This session is a primer on the ethical and regulatory requirements for error reporting as well as the current guidelines and best practices for reporting. The application of medical professional apology statutes also will be highlighted.

Rasheed Balogun, MD, FACP, FASN, HP

Patients are now being dialyzed in the operating room (OR). This session will focus on the collaborative approach essential to implementing this treatment plan, when it may be necessary, and management of this procedure in the OR. Finally, the nursing implications will be discussed.

Kim Alleman, MS, APRN, FNP-BC, CNN-NP

This session will address the connection between sodium and water and the changes in mechanics when a person develops CKD. Methods to keep a patient’s sodium and water in balance also will be discussed.