Program
Invited Speakers
Professor W Kirt Nichols, USA
Born and raised in Flint, Michigan, Dr Nichols earned his medical degree at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He completed his residency at the University of Missouri, Columbia and joined the faculty there in 1973.
Dr Nichols is known for his surgical skills throughout the United States. Thousands of patients have benefited from his knowledge and return to his clinic because of his kind, self effacing, and caring bedside manner. He is regularly listed as one of America's "Best Doctors". He has been clinically active in the field of Vascular Surgery for more than 30 years and has maintained his currency in the field by training and adopting the newest catheter based technologies to treat aneurysmal and peripheral arterial and venous disease.
Dr Nichols is presently the Chief of the Division of Vascular Surgery and Vice-Chair of the Department of Surgery. He served as Chief of the Medical Staff of University of Missouri Hospital (1994-2005), and Interim Chair of the Department of Surgery (2003). Dr Nichols earned his Master of Health Administration (MHA) from the University of Missouri in 1998.
He is an active member of several surgical societies including: American College of Surgeons, Society of Vascular Surgery, Frederick A Coller Society, Midwest Vascular Surgical Society, Central Surgical Association, and The International Conference on Peritoneal Dialysis at which he presents annually. Dr Nichols is on the Editorial Board of Missouri Medicine (Vascular Surgery); is a co-inventor with several patents for dialysis access catheters; has made numerous contributions to surgical literature; and has co-authored more than 100 articles. video tapes, posters and abstracts.
Assoc. Professor Di Twigg, Australia
Adjunct Associate Professor Di Twigg is the Director of Nursing of Sir Charles Gairdner Group. She is active in the profession, taking on various leadership roles. For example, she chaired for the Nurses Board of Western Australia, The Scope of Nursing Practice - Decision-Making Framework Steering Committee subsequently adopted in Western Australia and Di is the President of the Royal College of Nursing Australia. Di has a special interest in nursing research and its implications for nursing practice. This interest has been instrumental in Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital developing a strong nursing research infrastructure and co-founding the National Nursing Research Institute. Di is also the Chair of the organising committee of the International Congress on Innovations in Nursing held bi-annually. Di has a Bachelor Health Science Nursing (Honours) and a MBA. She is a fellow of Royal College Nursing Australia and Australian College Health Service Executives. Di commenced a PhD in 2005, her area of interest being staffing for patient safety. Adequate staffing is one of the key principles in the Magnet Hospital research. SCGH is using Magnet Hospital principles as a framework for the Nursing Service strategic planning.
Professor Peter Kerr, Australia
Peter Kerr is Professor/Director of Nephrology at Monash Medical Centre, Victoria. His major research interest is in haemodialysis, including vascular access, nutrition, dialysers and vascular calcification. He served on ANZDATA for over 10 years and has been an Australian coordinator for DOPPS for 5 years.
Ms Sue Davis, Australia
Sue Davis is the Nurse Director, Corporate Nursing, Research & Education at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. This role entails leadership to the Centre for Nursing Education, the Centre for Nursing Research, 9 Clinical Nurse Consultant roles, nursing recruitment and patient equipment. Sue's clinical background is in palliative care and she has a research masters in this area. She was the recipient of the Helen Bailey Scholarship in 2000 to undertake her masters studies and also undertook a study tour of Magnet Hospitals in the US in 2005.
Dr Chris Jones, UK
Dr Chris Jones is the Consultant Nephrology Nurse for King's College Hospital, London. His role provides a clinical nephrology service as well as a renal resource for primary care practitioners. He was awarded a PhD from the University of Southampton Medical School for work into the progression and management of chronic kidney disease.
Ms Jean Hooper, UK
In 1991 Jean Hooper became one of the first psychologists to be appointed by a Renal Service. This was a relatively new service in the South West of England, with a small Haemodialysis Unit, an inpatient facility and a CAPD clinic.
She quickly became involved with patient care, staff training and psychological research. Jean has attended many of the European Dialysis and Transplant Nurses Association (EDTNA) conferences, presenting or speaking at many of them and has also run workshops and been invited to speak at many other UK and European renal events.
Her work was focussed on the patients; - the impact of renal failure on their life, relationships, work, identity and psychological well being, and the resources they develop to manage the turmoil that the condition generates.
Although no longer based in a renal team she continues to spend time working with staff, assisting them in their desire to implement sound psychological care alongside the medical and technological interventions.
She has written a few book chapters, one published in 2002 by EDTNA in their psycho/social handbook “Towards a closer understanding”. The latest offering is “Psychological and psychiatric considerations in patients with advanced renal disease”, written collaboratively with a Psychiatrist in “Supportive Care for the Renal Patient” edited by Chambers, Germain and Brown (Oxford University Press. 2004).
In recent months Jean has become a member of the Journal Editorial Advisory Board.
Last year she was invited to speak at the EDTNA conference in Madrid and at the British Renal Association meeting in Nottingham. This year she have been invited to Perth and Florence.
In the course of her work, Jean has been privileged to meet some truly remarkable people. For this she is deeply grateful.