Kidney Trails

Dicyn and Denym are our interns that we recruited from a local technical community college. They both are also enrolled in the Kidney Trails Academy as well. In addition to our clinic, we provide a service that branches off into professional development.

Our idea, well let me rephrase that….. Our Vision is to give each one of our employees the full satisfaction of what it’s like to be a Renal Professional. Specifically, a Dialysis Technician. I remember when our Regulatory Consultant — Elisia Marchena and myself took a visit to the community college to tell the students more about our facility and what we have to offer. This classroom was very stimulating. They had projects all over the classroom. Kidney Anatomy projects, Water Room projects, simulating devices, a Peritoneal Dialysis machine, a few Hemodialysis machines, a small RO system, and what intrigued me the most was that the instructor had a dissected kidney in a jar. Definitely Intriguing . As we both , Elisia and I explained the pros/ cons of what being a Dialysis Technician is like. These two gentlemen were at a friendly war of asking questions that simply blew us away. We were very intrigued. We immediately wanted them to be a part of our Team. It was just something about Dicyn’s passion and Denym’s hunger for more. They definitely stood out. I remember Dicyn mentioning how he was excited about taking the Hemodialysis Technician course due to the fact that his Great Grandmother was on Dialysis , but he never got to meet her. His grandfather talked about what a wonderful person she was, and he was just intrigued by her persona. He felt as though she was always with him even though they never met. In spirit if you will…… Now, Denym appeared to me as a Rogue Rebel. He mentioned how he loved The Changeover Gauntlet they would practice in class. This was when their instructor would time them to how fast they could set up a Dialysis Machine to prepare them for changeover or change of shift. Now that sold me, and I’ll tell you why….. The instructor was Shawn Williams,CCHT, Diabetes Education Specialist,and he had over a decade of dialysis experience and was a traveler to many states across the nation. Not to mention, he was a Diabetes Educator . He has held several positions ranging from being a highly skilled Dialysis Technician , Past President of a Nephrology Association for Dialysis Technicians, served on a few Renal Committees, guest on a few podcasts, and attended several Renal related conferences. So with all that being said, I asked him ,”’What made you come up with The Changeover Gauntlet ?”. He replied,” Well Dwelyn , out of all my years in the profession of Nephrology. Dialysis to be exact, I have experienced that while in training, none of the training placed heavy emphasis on the hardest part of being a Dialysis Technician …… The Changeover!!! This separated the Mice from Men in my opinion. I remember a few technicians who were trainers or had numerous amount of experience would simply say ,” You either sink or swim!”, “ I made a vow after hearing that, that if I can teach dialysis while nurturing, I could possibly reduce individuals from quitting or shed some light within some organizations or establishments where our students will be applying. Also, it’s a great selling point in an interview. I literally would like our students to be able to say in an interview,” I don’t have any dialysis experience as far as patient care , but I’m familiar with the machines you use and I can set up 3 machines in 10 mins. Strategy.”

I admit I was sold when he said that. With these two hungry wolves we immediately offered them to apply with us at the Kidney Trails Dialysis Clinic and upon being hired they received a Free Admission to the Kidney Trails Academy for Dialysis Technicians. Our Academy offers Mentorship, Professional Development, Vascular Management, Diabetes Education ( Nutrition), Infection Control, and the importance of Lab Values. Elisia Marchena made this comment and placed heavy emphasis on this statement while visiting the college campus. 

“We want to retain employees, which means we want them to stay with us for as long as possible. This decreases costs associated with training new employees. So we actually want our retention rate to be high — 90% or higher.”

So this is why Denym was named the Gauntlet Champion 3 weeks in a row. Dicyn best his record the following 3 times after, so with that being said. These two gentlemen had a friendly competition amongst each other , but they were also a duo, a Dynamic Duo at that. That explains why they are here. The cool thing about Juan was he had been with us at the Kidney Trails Dialysis Clinic for about 5 years now, and he spoke Spanish , so he was a major asset for those of us who weren’t fluent in Spanish, and he gave the patients the comfort of knowing someone could understand them and relate to them. He was a young Lion on the rise. Him , Denym and Dicyn kinda reminded me of myself in my earlier days. We all have met Ashley previously , and know her story. Nicole is our newest addition to the team, and she has great determination. This is our Team.

To Be Continued…..