Staff and patients from Grand River Hospital’s renal program often create life-long bonds through ongoing, regular life-sustaining care, connections and treatments. One of the hospital’s renal patients, who experienced a recent health crisis inspired her nurse to give back, through a small act of kindness that snowballed into a renal team initiative with a big impact.
In 2018, Shannon Peer was admitted to Grand River Hospital with signs of kidney failure. Ultimately placed on a regular dialysis schedule for chronic kidney failure, Shannon’s treatment involved visiting Grand River’s Renal Centre three times a week for four hours at a time.
During her visits, the renal team supported her dialysis treatment which involved using a machine to remove blood from the body, filtering it through a dialyzer (artificial kidney) and returning the cleaned blood to the body.
Recognizing that this level of care can be disruptive to patient’s lives, Grand River has a program called Right Start that provides support and training to patients who may be able to manage their care and treatments from the comfort of their own home.
Last year, Shannon enrolled in the Right Start program, and completed the training with her primary care nurse, Pam.
“We train by repetition,” says Pam Xuereb, renal program registered nurse at Grand River Hospital. “The machines provide prompts for every step in the process which makes it very user-friendly for our patients.”
At Grand River, nurses like Pam continue to visit patients in their home to provide support as needed and complete annual safety audits, which ensure that patients remain consistent with their treatments.
“Making the move to home hemodialysis was scary at first; I wasn’t sure what to expect,” recalls Peer. “’I felt well-prepared though. Now it’s been just over a year, and I’ve memorized all of the steps in the process – I don’t even have to think about it.”
Starting treatment at home has been life-changing for Shannon. She can better manage her own schedule, and no longer has to spend an additional two hours on the road for each four-hour long treatment, commuting by bus to and from the hospital.
And Shannon knows that she can count on her entire care team for support when she needs it. She has developed several close therapeutic relationships over the past few years, especially with her primary care nurse, Pam.
Recently, Shannon let her care team know that she wasn’t feeling well.
Upon arriving at the hospital, Shannon was diagnosed with severe internal bleeding and her hemoglobin dropped to a critical level. She was moved to the intensive care unit (ICU) where she required multiple blood transfusions.
Pam felt compelled to continue to offer her support.
“I knew I had to do something,” says Xuereb. “I made the decision right then to donate blood. I knew my blood donation wouldn’t be used for Shannon directly, but it made me think about all of the other dialysis patients who are in a similar position every day.”
Pam’s spontaneous act of kindness inspired Sandra Nuttin, home hemodialysis resource nurse at Grand River Hospital, to initiate a “give back to our renal patients movement” and with the help of other team members, they organized a blood donation clinic for the entire renal program. The team will make their first donation the week of March 21, 2022.
“We develop such close relationships with our patients; we are in their homes and get to meet their families,” says Nuttin.
Donating blood is one way that GRH team members can continue to care for patients throughout their health care journey.
Pam’s gesture was especially touching for Shannon.
“I cried when she told me,” says Peer.
She goes on to say that her entire care team is fantastic.
“I always have a support system at Grand River.”
Ways you can support dialysis patients at Grand River Hospital
Donate to kidney care through the Grand River Hospital Foundation
More than 3,000 patients rely on the renal clinics at Grand River Hospital. These clinics provide patients with education and care to prevent chronic kidney disease, coordinate assessments and referrals related to kidney transplants, and provide education and support for patients who require dialysis.
Learn more about how you can support kidney care at Grand River
Consider a team blood donation
Through Canadian Blood Services’ Partners for Life program, organizations and community groups can make a meaningful difference to patients across Canada by registering for a group blood donation or pledge-based partnership. Learn more about the Partners for Life program.