Ashley Riley, B.S.N., RN, CPN, is a pediatric home dialysis nurse at Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City. The hospital participates in CHA’s Standardizing Care to Improve Outcomes in Pediatric Endstage Kidney Disease (SCOPE) collaborative. “With the implementation of SCOPE guidelines and policies, our infection rates for peritoneal dialysis and hemodialysis have seen significant improvements over the last few years,” Riley says.
Organizations participating in SCOPE help families provide essential and complex care in the home for children with kidney disease. The evidence shows that patients at SCOPE centers:
- Have reduced risk of infections.
- Have fewer hospitalizations.
- Maintain health for transplant.
- Maintain normal school and family life.
Riley was named a SCOPE Star for her local championing of SCOPE practices, but she is also celebrated for her advocacy, devoted patient relationships, and creation of an educational series that offers CEUs and benefits the entire kidney care team.
Power of purpose
“I love what I do. We get to meet these families and patients at what is possibly the worst moments of their lives and see them through hopefully to transplant and witness their achievements as they live their lives.”
Passion for education
“If we aren’t learning new things, we become stagnant and set in our ways. I wanted to do something to help continue to drive knowledge for staff and improve care. And for patients and families, seeing the effect of educating them to do something they never thought they could, like peritoneal dialysis, is beyond fulfilling and hard to describe.”
Necessity of advocacy
“Our families and patients go through so much and we become an extension of them in some ways. Being able to empower our families and nursing staff to advocate for our patients and educate them on communicating what they need is critical in progressing their care and helping them to reach their goals for their overall health”
Patients first
“Hearing the words from one of my patients who nominated me for a nursing award moved me to tears and brought everything back full circle as to why I love what I do and the patients and families I get to care for.”
