My name is Daniel and I am a volunteer for Salford Royal Hospital. My role at the hospital is to teach patients how to do the first 5 stages of their own dialysis. I started this role back in September 2014 after being asked by one of the nurses if I would champion the project. A little bit about me – I myself was a haemodialysis patient for 4 years and I myself was a self care patient. I commenced my dialysis in May 2005 and had a transplant July 2009. Due to having MS I am unable to work and I find the volunteering I do ideal as it allows me to escape the confinement of my home and to give back to the unit and nurses that helped look after me for 4 years.
Being an ex dialysis patient I do find that the patients tend to respond to me in a very positive manner as I have been where they are and I know full well the impacts dialysis can have on a person. I find the work I do very rewarding and I enjoy working with the patients immensely, be it the work I do to teach the patient or just coming in and sitting to talk to them about their week.
There are 5 stages of dialysis that I teach and any one patient can choose just how little or how much they would like to learn with no pressure to go further they are comfortable with. I work at the patients speed not my own and the motto I always follow and tell my patients is safety over speed.
The stages of dialysis that I teach are – 1) ANTT Hand Washing, 2) Observations, 3) Preparing a trolley, 4) Lining a machine, 5) Priming a machine. After these 5 stages are taught the patients will then be given the opportunity to move on and learn to be a full self carer. Currently I am putting together some certificates that a patient will be awarded when they finish their training no matter which stage they learn up to, as I feel they should be given some acknowledgement for the effort they have put into this scheme themselves.
All in all I thoroughly enjoy my work as a shared care volunteer, I enjoy getting out of the house to interact with patients who are going through the ordeals that I myself went through and I have nothing but praise for all the patients who choose to take some of their care into their own hands and have this little bit of control over this aspect of their lives.
If you might like to get involved in doing some of your haemodialysis on your unit i.e. ‘shared – care’ – please feel free to contact your local champions/staff
⁃ Daniel at Salford on 07530 006038
⁃ Audrey Hyde at Salford
⁃ Maureen Naylor at Wigan Renal unit
⁃ Taslin or Janet Banham at Bolton
⁃ Jade Melia or Zoe Johnstone or Julie Carter at Oldham
⁃ Linda Eastwood or Eileen Marriot at Rochdale
