Some background info about our "Walk the Talk" Challenge

Welcome to our blog! We are a group of health professionals working in the dialysis unit at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto.  We work with patients who are on dialysis as a result of their kidney failure.  These patients visit the hospital three times a week to have their blood filtered via a machine for a duration of 4 hours. They are on a strict diet that is low in potassium, low in phosphorus, low in salt, high in protein and they are restricted to 1 litre of fluid per day. In addition, they take medications during every meal that that bind to the phosphate in their foods.


Now as health care professionals, we know the benefits of being compliant with phosphate binding medications and following diet restrictions. Therefore, we are constantly reminding them, educating them, and hope that they follow our instructions.  Although, we all seem to understand that these restrictions are not easy for our patients, it's safe to say that we don't really know what they're going through. 


About 2 weeks ago, our nurse practitioner, Alison, read a blog post (www.weightymatters.ca) about "walking the talk".  Meaning, if we as health care professionals are going to give advice about making lifestyle changes, it would probably be beneficial to get a better understanding of what we are asking our patients to do.  

Our group which consists of nephrologists, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, dietitians, and students have agreed to take this challenge for the upcoming week.  Some will follow the diet restrictions and others with take phosphate binding medications with all of their meals.  We will write about our experiences (and our adherence) on this blog.


We hope at the very least, that we can gain some perspective and empathy the next time we recommend something to our patients.