Kelly Cunningham BSN, RN

Honestly, I would say my family support, family and friends' support, because I didn't really grow up in a family that was like, oh, you have to go to college. I didn't really have that support growing up. I had always had friends pushing me, and then, of course, my husband and my kids that were like, you know, why not? And so, again, I didn't know that I couldn't do it, I just did it. When I talk to people these days that are going to school, like young girls, or maybe even some of the technicians that I work with who say, oh gosh, I don't know if I can do this, I'm like, why not? Just believe in yourself. I've had like 2 or 3 people who I've mentored through college, and who have helped them through their journey that are coming out of school and are becoming nurses right now. So, I mean, that's always exciting. Being that support person for somebody when you had a good support base yourself. I don't know that if I didn't have the husband and children that I have, if I would have thought that I could do this.

The best advice I received came from a nurse who told me to just start calling places and looking, rather than listening to people who said nephrology was hard to get into. She encouraged me to be proactive and persistent. That advice changed everything for me because I followed it, and even though I got turned down at first, I kept persisting with this company until they said, you know what, you're very persistent, we're gonna hire you. That taught me to believe in myself and not let other people's doubts stop me from pursuing what I wanted.

You know, just do it. Believe in yourself. And don't use any excuses. Because you can do it. If I could do it when I was 45 and graduating nursing school at almost 50, you can do it. Don't let people say that you can't, you know, believe in yourself. Even if you don't have a support base, the people who basically lift you up, go to God, you know, look towards your faith and your beliefs, and you will be guided the right way.

One of the biggest challenges in dialysis nursing is patient education. It's amazing to me how some people will come in and have really had no education as to their whole overall situation. You get a lot of very scared people, a lot of people who maybe have not had any previous education. Some people have no prior disease or background, their kidneys have just failed from maybe use of a medication or maybe another disease state, something that's kind of pushed them into this whole new world. So you're really more than just a dialysis nurse. A lot of times you're a counselor, you grieve with these people, you teach these people, and you just kind of teach them a new way of how to live, and how to be healthy, and try to help them be successful on their new way that they live. The opportunity is in making sure that everybody has exactly what they need to be successful, because you're working in these clinics where you have like 30 chairs, 30 patients on machines all at once. You have 30 lives in your hands, and one little thing can go wrong, and it can be catastrophic. So it's basically making sure that people are confident in what they're doing, confident in their skills, and if they're not, getting them to that place where they need to be so that they can handle these situations properly.

Well, I always believed, and I always tell people at work, be honest. Integrity, honesty, because if you mess something up, just say something. It's always fixable. I try to instill that in both my kids and my coworkers, and even with my patients. Tell me what's going on and be honest with me, and I'll be honest with you. And of course, see something, say something. If something's off, try to get to the root of it, try to figure out what's going on, because you can't provide help if you don't know. And then, of course, just being supportive of other people, of everybody and everything, because we have so much right now, especially, that people are going through or dealing with, and it's just having that kindness. I mean, if you can do anything or be anything, just share some kindness with people. Everybody needs it. Smile. It doesn't cost you anything, it doesn't hurt you, and it goes a long way. It can make somebody's day. Use kind words, be nice to people. Open the door for somebody, buy somebody a coffee. I just think the little things make a big difference, especially in the world today.