LOCAL CHAPTER UPDATES

CNSW of Kansas & Western Missouri held a check-in Zoom meeting on March 28, 2023. We recognized social workers for Social Work Month. JoAnna Rogers from NKF could not attend but shared announcements. She recognized CNSW and Tanya Kearney who moderated a session at the recent NKF Kidney Social Summit and shared a resource guide with patients and their families. JoAnna asked social workers to encourage Kansas and Missouri patients to apply for the Culpepper Exum Scholarship before the May 8 deadline. Find information at https://www.kidney.org/patientscholarship. She also encouraged social workers to listen to the latest Kidney Commute podcast on Sexuality and Kidney Disease.

Wendy Schrag shared that the social work licensure contact language is final. Completion was too late to be introduced for a vote before most state legislatures adjourn this year, but there’s always next year. Social workers with a compact license will be able to practice in states where the compact has been approved. Read more about this at https://swcompact.org/.

There was a discussion of short staffing, high caseloads and difficulty meeting requirements for the many additional tasks social workers have been charged to do by CMS and dialysis providers. Some dialysis clinics have not had permanent staff for many months or even years. One of the sessions at NKF is going to be on the Power of Data: Elevating Social Work Practice. Doing small projects and collecting data may be a way to convince managers of the value of social work interventions.

There was also discussion of future educational programs. We will be having a Zoom meeting on June 27 with Dori Schatell from the Medical Education Institute presenting on Talking to Patients About Home Dialysis. We hope this will help clinics increase their percentage of patients on home dialysis in line with CMS’ ESRD Treatment Choices Model.

A fall meeting may be our first opportunity to meet in person as well as to offer Zoom attendance for those far from Kansas City. The proposed topic of this meeting is improving transplant communication and collaboration. We hope to have presentations by area transplant coordinators and from the Midwest Transplant Network, our organ procurement organization.

Submitted by Beth Witten, MSW, ACSW, LSCSW

CNSW of Michigan held our quarterly meeting in May.  We will be holding nominations for elections and awards this summer.  Our chapter continued its support of our local NKF of Michigan-Detroit Zoo Walk.  Many of our chapter members volunteer or participate in this annual event.  We are actively planning our annual Symposium to be held in November.  Congrats to our treasurer, Aisha Franklin-Onyeugwo, who received the CNSW New Worker Award at the NKF SCM23 in Austin.

Submitted by Andrea DeKam, LMSW, FNKF
Nephrology Social Worker
Michigan Dialysis Services (MDS) 

CNSW of Nebraska/Western Iowa met on February 3, 2023 at DaVita Cornhusker Dialysis in Bellevue, NE. The executive director of the Nebraska Kidney Association provided organizational updates. There was also a presentation about Medicaid Spend Down by a local insurance agent who specializes in spend down policies. On April 7, 2023, the group met at the Dialysis Center of Lincoln/O Street in Lincoln, NE. We had an update on the Nebraska Chronic Renal Disease program. A bachelors level practicum student from the Dialysis Center of Lincoln presented her semester-long transplant project. She contacted several transplant centers in the region to inquire about referral process and exclusion criteria. The student developed resources for our group, which will help us better target transplant referrals. Our next meeting is August 4, 2023. The Transplant Institute at Research Medical Center in Kansas City, Missouri will present to our group.

Submitted by Jennifer Moran, LICSW
Renal Social Worker
Dialysis Center of Lincoln, Inc.

CNSW of Wisconsin had a virtual meeting in March.  Melissa Fry and Janavi Kolpekwar presented on Music Therapy in Dialysis. Members were able to hear their presentation for the Spring Clinicals. We also discussed updates in our units and state surveys. Many members expressed that they would prefer to return to in person meetings with a virtual option. NKF WI and CNSW are working with UW Transplant and hoping to meet in person by late summer at UW Health. CNSW is also assisting NKF WI in planning for the annual Kidney conference in November.

Submitted by Jessica Wicks, MSW APSW 
Dialysis Social Worker
Beloit Health System

CNSW Upper Midwest met on May 18 for the first time in person since the pandemic. Despite problems with technology the chapter meeting and educational presentation went well with a small turnout. There was a great presentation entitled Self-Awareness and Cultural Humility presented by Rev. Michael Le Buhn, MDiv, Manager Spiritual Care, Allina Health. NKF MN hosted a Kidney Patient Social Summit on March 12 with a good turnout.  The chapter is busy planning the next meeting with an educational presentation for September.  The hope is to offer that meeting in a hybrid mode with an option of either in-person or Zoom.

Submitted by Jennifer Miller, LICSW
Abbott Northwestern Hospital Transplant MSW