Randy Caparros, Hemodialysis Nurse, St. Boniface Hospital, Winnipeg, MB

“I’ve been an LPN for two years and then RN for 17. This might sound corny, but I became a nurse to see a healthier world, following the footsteps of the living legend Patti LaBelle. I love to see patients recover from surgeries, and also patients healed from their illnesses.

 I love working in Hemodialysis because I feel that the patients here are like family. We see them around three times a week, so we get to know them and their families better. It also feels very rewarding to see visiting patients who received kidney transplants doing well, and knowing that we were part of this new journey of theirs.
Right now we’re getting a lot more patients requiring dialysis. It’s kind of hard if we don’t have the staff, but we get through it still. More and more patients need dialysis.

I have always believed that education is the key to success, so that is why I am working on my Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree in hopes for a Nurse Educator position in the future.
I also want to change the image of a nurse, showing that we are more than task workers – like taking blood pressures or changing dressings – but we are also knowledgeable and that we can make good clinical judgments.”