Everyday Hero: VA nurse helps build at-home dialysis care from the ground up
MILWAUKEE — A nurse at Milwaukee Veterans Affairs has worked hard over the past four years to build an at-home dialysis program from the ground up for veterans in need of care.
And while advancing and enhancing care is something many hospitals work hard to do, for this nurse, it’s a part of her dream.
Bridget Guerndt said she loves her job. She’s a nephrology peritoneal dialysis care coordinator with the Milwaukee VA. Essentially, she’s a nurse who helps veterans get the at-home dialysis care they need.
Peritoneal dialysis is a form of treatment for kidney failure where the lining of the stomach is used to filter blood inside your body.
This is the type of treatment that Guerndt is helping provide through the treatment program.
“Peritoneal dialysis is, we will take the dialysis solution and we will put it into the abdomen, let it sit there for a prescribed amount of time, and then we will drain it out. That is all we do,” Guerndt said.
This sort of access to care didn’t exist five years ago at the Milwaukee VA. But then, Guerndt helped launch this program, bringing in the veterans who needed treatment.
“It has been an amazing experience to just be able to say yeah, I started something from the ground up. It was very daunting when I first started, but now that it is running smoothly, I am like ‘wow, I really did it,’” Guerndt said.
Since 2019, she has been teaching other nurses how to serve veterans and also teaching veterans how to use their machines to deliver dialysis.
Being able to administer this treatment at home is beneficial to veterans because it eliminates having to be at the hospital multiple times a week for hours at a time. “They have said it is so freeing to be able to do what they want to do every day. It can’t compare,” Guerndt said.
Through her hard work, she’s been able to make an impact on the lives of veterans who are needing care to have a better quality of life. She said it’s something she’s proud of.
“It’s humbling, but so proud at the same time that I can keep them at home doing what they want to do for as long as they want to do it,” Guerndt said.
Over the years, she has been able to watch the program she helped build save the lives of veterans in Wisconsin. She said it’s a touching moment for her to reflect on.