Chair Messages

CNNT Chair Message
CNSW Chair Message
CRN Chair Message
RPG Chair Message

CNNT Chair Message

Sheila Deziel, MSN, RN, CNN, FNKF

As the year winds to a close, one must reflect on accomplishments CNNT has made but also the vision of our council. There is much that still needs to be determined as I write this, but we have made headway. As I pass the torch to our Chair-elect, Melinda Martin Lester, I know that we will continue to have great accomplishments.

For the past two years, our Council has been functioning in an emergency state; not ideal, but it required us to take a close look at our strengths, weaknesses and what we must do to keep this Council going. The SWOT analysis team, led by Jo Ann Otts, began the process of a thorough bylaws review and clearer role descriptions. We found in our Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threat’s (SWOT) analysis done last year that we had great strength in our knowledge of the renal community, connections in the community and patient issues. Our weaknesses were in not having a clear vision of the mission of CNNT, poor role definition for the council team, and a lack of identity.

To develop a clearer vision for the Council, we revised the bylaws and clarified the individual roles on the Executive Committee. At the end of March, we’ll be emailing the bylaws to the CNNT membership for a vote to accept or deny these changes. We hope to announce the decision at the CNNT networking reception on April 8, 2022, in Boston, during the Spring Clinical Meetings.

To close out this column I would like to call your attention to the PCT survey done and published in this issue. Jennifer Lunt, CHT wrote an excellent piece describing the process and summarizing the results. We look forward to your comments on this first ever PCT survey.

I wish the best to my successors, and I know I will see great things coming from CNNT in the future.

Respectfully,

Sheila Deziel MSN, RN, CNN, FNKF

CNSW Chair Message

Melissa Fry, MSW, NSW-C

Greetings CNSW members! This year's Spring Clinical Meetings are just around the corner. I want to give a thank you to Elizabeth Jones, Lisa Hall and their Program Committee members for putting together a fantastic nephrology social work program. SCM will be a hybrid model this year with an in-person conference in Boston and an online opportunity to watch the sessions on-demand. I am looking forward to being able to network and see people in person this year. If you haven't had a chance to attend a SCM, I highly recommend you register. As a member, you receive a discount on the cost of registration.

At this year's Spring Clinical Meetings, there will be a few changes to the CNSW Executive Committee. I would like to take this time to thank our outgoing CNSW Executive Committee member, Amy Lemke, for her work and dedication to the CNSW Executive Committee. Amy was the Region III Representative. I would like to welcome incoming CNSW Executive Committee member, Gail Nylin. Gail will be the new Region III Representative. I look forward to seeing what the committee achieves this year.

As I write this message, we are still dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, and now the omicron variant has taken over. Hopefully as more people are vaccinated and boosted, we will return to some sense of normalcy. As nephrology social workers, we are continuing to adopt to the ever-changing environment and helping our patients to adapt as well. Make sure to take some time for yourself to rejuvenate and reach out to others for help and support. We are truly all in this together. Let's hope 2022 is a happy, healthy one!

CRN Chair Message

Karen Greathouse, RDN

It is hard to believe that my year as the Chair of the Council on Renal Nutrition (CRN) is coming to an end!  On February 20, I will transition to the Immediate Past Chair for my final year on the CRN Executive Committee. Matilde Ladnier, MBA, RDN, will transition to the Chair position and Nikki Nygren-Stevenson, RDN, will assume the position of Chair-elect. I would like to thank our talented 2021-2022 CRN Executive Board! I am very excited to see what the CRN Board will accomplish in the upcoming year. I am so proud that we ended the year by taping a segment in a CME presentation aimed at educating primary care doctors about what a dietitian can do to help slow the progression of CKD. We also educated them that MNT for kidney disease is a covered benefit with Medicare and gave advise to help connect the doctors to dietitians.

I would like to welcome the newly elected board members: Marisol Kramer, RDN (Region 1 Representative), Ann Pittaoulis, RDN (Region 1 Alternative Representative), Jennifer Bazzanella, RDN (Region 3 Representative), Michele Adams, RDN (Region 3 Alternate Representative), Sara Prato, MS, RDN (Region 5 Representative), and Julius Navarro, RDN, CSR, CNS (Region 5 Alternative Representative). The CRN Executive Board is here to support our members.

The new Superfood section on the NKF website is live, with new additions being added monthly! The Education Committee has been hard at work helping to update the nutrition education material available through NKF; please check out the new material. The website is being designed to pop up when people google a kidney related issue; check it out!

I really appreciate our efforts to educate the nephrology community about the changes in the kidney diet so that the entire kidney team is providing the same message. It is so wonderful to be encouraging our patients to eat more plant-based foods and less processed foods. When I evaluate patients for transplant, I am saddened how few people have spoken with a renal dietitian to develop strategies to slow the progression of kidney disease. Many of these patients have GFR between 8 and 18 and are not on dialysis. Many of the patients tell me that the only nutrition information that they received was handouts from the doctor’s office and what they could find online. I am constantly told how confusing it is that there is so much information on the internet that is contradictory. I then explain that the newer research demonstrates that we do not absorb potassium and phosphorous from plants at the same rate as we absorb phosphorous and potassium additives often found in processed foods. Higher fiber diets also help to excrete potassium, phosphorous, and fluid. I also explain it takes time for some people to update the way they practice!

Helping kidney patients to make lifestyle changes to include more vegetables/fruit combined with balanced meals and exercise will also help people achieve a healthy weight for transplant. More and more transplant centers are considering health, comorbidities, and frailty in evaluating potential obese kidney transplant candidates, rather than relying strictly on BMI criteria. It is so exciting to look at the newer research into kidney transplantation and obesity. Research is also underway to look at how bariatric surgery can help obese kidney patients qualify for kidney transplantation.

The CRN Executive Committee is looking forward to meeting in person during the Spring Clinical Meetings in Boston. They have met for the past two years meeting via Zoom. New this year, a social hour on Friday, April 8 from 6:30pm-7:30pm will replace the CRN Luncheon. The awards will be presented at the beginning to allow time for networking. The hope is this will allow people to interact with a wider variety of dietitians. Our incoming Chair, Matilde Ladnier, is planning a fun activity with a prize; I hope to see many of you in Boston. In an effort to keep everyone safe, the city of Boston is requiring proof of vaccination status, or a negative COVID-19, test for all in-person attendees; participants can virtually join the meeting as well.

As we move into 2022, please feel free to reach out to your CRN board with any questions or suggestions that you may have. I am looking forward to another successful year of accomplishments on behalf of our CRN membership and most importantly our patients! Hope to see many of you in Boston in April!

RPG Chair Message

Mel Young, MS, RDN, CSR, LD

Chair, Renal Practice Group for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

Hello Renal Dietitians!

The New Year has arrived!! For most, this is a time of reflection and growth. I always like to review different areas that I want to reflect and grow in – personal, family, health, career. As I am reflecting on career growth for this year, I keep coming to the thought of simplifying my message for my patients. What are my goals for my patients? One driver for me is quality of life and I do believe our diet support greatly impacts their quality of life. So, what are some ways I can simplify my message to my patients and positively impact their quality of life?

One thing that I will be doing this new year is reviewing my “go-to” patient education materials. I think that this is something that we all can do at least annually. Is it current? Which guidelines does it follow? Is it accessible to your patients? There are many great education pieces on the NKF and RPG websites (renalnutrition.org). One handout that I have added to my new patient packet this year is “Living Well With Heart Disease, Diabetes, and Kidney Disease” from the RPG dietetic practice group. It is a simple handout that ties together multiple diets. It tends to not overwhelm our new patients, as many patients can seem overwhelmed, or burdened when thinking about diet changes. It is a great feeling when working with a patient and you are able to streamline the diet into a simple guideline or plate design. To start simple with manageable changes that can be maintained and grow from there. Feel free to check out even more patient education handouts at renalnutrition.org.

Second, I think we as renal dietitians can improve on simplifying our diet message. One of the things that, for me, came out of the 2020 KDOQI guidelines was a chance to liberalize the diet for our patients. In my practice this adds a greater variety to the diet and adds more autonomy. This has opened up some great conversations with my patients about the desired direction of their diet. Our message needs to be personalized, but I do not believe our message on diet has to be limiting. I want to remind everyone that the RPG has a great webinar from last year on “Plant-Forward with Chronic Kidney Disease”. This webinar can help incorporate more plant dominant education into your practice. Visit the RPG’s website to view other wonderful webinars.

In my practice and when appropriate, I have also been focusing on supporting patients to eat as a family as a way to support patients with chronic disease. I think this can be a third area we can simplify things for our patients. I was listening to a podcast the other day by the RPG, on how people with CKD or other chronic disease can comfortably eat with their family during the holidays and travel. I think that this is something important to address with our patients – you can eat as a family! Many patients that I have spoken to over the years seem to feel like they are adding a burden to the family and impacting family meals, but most of the same foods can be enjoyed by a person with CKD as well as a person without CKD. There is no reason to cook different meals for the family. This should hopefully take some feeling of burden off the patient. Check out the upcoming RPG podcasts at renalnutrition.org.

I am looking forward to this 2022 year, and encouraging my patients in eating foods for their health and wellbeing as well as building a healthy relationship with food. Let us encourage our patients to enjoy a meal with their family that provides nutrition to everyone. Let this be a year of joyfulness with our meals and around our tables.

Thank you,

Mel Young MS RDN CSR LDN

RPG Chair