Getting involved in the community at large is always important. As a Renal Professional, it is great to join organizations and participate in seminars and conferences. For some, joining a board or committee is important. For me, it’s also important to be involved in activities outside of the renal arena. Keeping up to date with the County Emergency Management activities and emails, new updates from the CDC and the Health Department and getting educational information for patients, their families and staff is crucial in maintaining a healthy environment. It is also important to look for activities that you can participate in to fulfill the CMS requirements. Have you ever participated in the Great Shakeout Earthquake Drills? Please feel free to check out the website at: https://www.shakeout.org/register/
At Physicians Dialysis, we have been coordinating with our back-up facilities to participate as a group and work through potential problems. What would you do if… coming up with scenarios on your own might be difficult, however joining a group might give you some extra much-needed information. The local county for our clinic held a web-based tabletop exercise with a scenario of a leak at the nuclear power plant. We needed all disciplines including our chief tech, administrator (a nurse,) office manager, and social worker present to reflect on what the issues would be and what our response would be. Our back-up facilities also were involved on the phone questioning who would be needed to help and what we could do for one another to ensure that everyone was safely cared for from staff to patients. The moral of this story is get involved and bring your colleagues with you, none of us is an island!
Thank you,
Susan Witzel-Kreuter, LCSW
Chair – Council of Nephrology Social Workers So. Fl.
Director of Social Services