Sept. 14, 2007 — While Nephrology Nurse Week at Schneider Regional Medical Center pays homage to some of the hospital's dedicated health care providers, it also underscores a few of the territory's more serious health problems and shows what residents battling diseases such as diabetes and hypertension have to go through every day.
Statistics from studies by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that obesity and diabetes throughout the U.S. and territory is climbing. In 2005, 59.7 percent of the V.I.'s male population was categorized as obese or overweight. The female population ranked a bit higher, with 60.3 percent classified as obese or overweight.
Local statistics compiled by the V.I. Department of Health state that the territory has twice the rate of diabetes cases among African-Americans than those on the U.S. mainland. Between 6,392 and 12,561 residents are affected by diabetes in the territory, statistics say. By the time the disease is diagnosed, about 50 percent of patients already show early symptoms.
In the dialysis unit of Schneider Regional, about 60 patients come in weekly for treatment because their diabetes has progressed to a point where they're suffering from ailments such blindness or kidney failure (nephrology nurses specialize in the function and diseases of the kidney). The unit's head nurse, Judy Spurrell, said Thursday that hemodialysis, a process by which impurities are removed from the blood, is the only effective form of treatment for such patients other than organ transplants.
Hemodialysis treatment has become an everyday exercise for some patients, such as Henry Smith, a St. Thomas resident who was born with diabetes. Smith's treatment is conducted three times a week, for four hours each day.
"Diabetes and high blood pressure have caused a failure of my kidney," Smith explained Thursday, while hooked up to the hemodialysis unit. "That means the kidney isn't removing the waste like it should be, and without treatment, it will start to slowly poison my body. In order to keep the kidney functioning, I have to do the weekly treatment, which cleans out my blood."
Though Smith said the ideal remedy would be to have a kidney transplant, he said an available organ is hard to come by, and could take as long as seven years. Keeping that in mind, he urged residents — especially those who have a family history of diabetes — to take care of themselves, and make regular visits to the doctor.
The unit's medical director, Dr. Wishburne Hunte, gave a more in-depth look at some of the problems the hospital is facing. While kidney transplants are being performed at Schneider Regional, he said, many community members are just not interested in becoming donors.
"I'd like to see more transplants being done," he said. "But there aren't enough organs available for patients. One of the things we have to do to solve that problem is make the community more aware of what they can do, or have a drive to show them that donating a kidney to a loved one or friend can be done quite easily."
In the meantime, the unit's nephrology nurses are working around the clock, Hunte added, sometimes coming at all hours of the morning to help treat chronic patients. Dialysis nurses are highly specialized, he explained, and can be considered a rarity — particularly during the nation's ongoing nurse shortage.
"Right now we have a full compliment of nurses here at Schneider Regional," he said. "And we're very grateful for all the hard work that they do. This week's celebrations are intended to honor our nurses for their service, and their dedication to our patients."
When asked about her job, Spurrell said treating the patients is more inspiring that it is hard work.
"When Mr. Smith comes in every week and says 'good morning, my nurses,' that just fills my heart with joy," Spurrell said. "The theme of our celebrations this year is 'caring for a lifetime,' and I think that's fitting, because as nurses, that's who we are. That's what we do."
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