Candace Mackay, Hemodialysis Nurse, Brandon Regional Health Centre, Brandon, MB

“I started my nursing career in 2004 after completing the LPN program at ACC in Brandon. Choosing nursing seemed easy as I loved helping people and my sister had been nursing for several years and loved it.

I started out working on a medical floor and stayed there for about nine years. I took the dialysis course and have been there almost three years. One of the biggest upsides of working in dialysis is the great patients that you really get to know and they get to know you. Plus having Sundays off is a real highlight for me.
I think the biggest challenge dialysis is facing is the growing need for it and hope for expansion as we are busting at the seams.

It’s really hard to pick any ‘stand out’ memories as there are so many over the last almost 12 years. Currently being the nurse to start a new dialysis patient for chronic or acute treatment really stand outs.

It’s a very difficult time for the patient and their families, dialysis and all the life changes that go with it can be very overwhelming. So helping to walk them through it and hopefully making it a bit easier for them seems to be a standout memory right now.”