Rose Markey, MA

We need braver leaders and more courageous cultures if we want to show up and better serve the people around us. Based on the latest research by Dr. Brené Brown, this session will help you understand where, how, and why you self-protect and armor up. You also will examine the behaviors that characterize daring leadership as compared to armored leadership and recognize your own personal call to courage.

Leah Foster Smith, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC, CNN-NP, FNKF

Patients with kidney disease are monitored carefully for proteinuria, and this session will illustrate the classification, types, and diagnosis of proteinuria. Treatment strategies will be emphasized, including the use of antiproteinuric agents and how they are different in nephrotic versus nephritic syndromes. The role of the nephrology advanced practice nurse will be a focus of this session, but all nephrology nurses will gain an appreciation of their role in managing this complication in patients with kidney disease.

Christine Corbett, DNP, FNP-BC, CNN-NP, FNKF

What does the term conservative management mean – for the patient and for caregivers? This session will answer this question, particularly as to how conservative management, or “active medical management,” is related to interventions, plans of care, and pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic implications.

Kenneth Andreoni, MD

One barrier to organ transplantation is the lack of available organs because of disease states in potential donors. Dr. Andreoni will share strategies to decrease the number of organ “discards” – organs that cannot be used because of other medical concerns. Pharmacologic options to maximize successful transplant outcomes and necessary conversations with patients about what a transplant means for them wil be discussed.

Holly Carpenter, BSN, RN

Nurses have always faced fatigue, but the pandemic created additional stressors. Twelve-hour+ shifts, creating sleep deprivation, have been recognized as an ongoing safety issue. This session will focus on successful strategies to combat nurse fatigue, emphasizing the need to focus on nurses’ well-being and recognize their worth all year long, not just during Nurses Week.

Molly Cahill, MSN, NP-C, APRN, BC, CNN, FNKF

During the pandemic, telehealth use exploded. Innovation is growing, and this session will focus on nephrology telehealth visits. Tips and tools for establishing and sustaining virtual visits and making them meaningful will be shared. Platforms and institutional policies to guide the use of telehealth also will be covered. Finally, questions related to billing and reimbursement will be included as these issues need to be considered before, not after, visits begin.