Pros
Connecting with patients that value your knowledge and understand that you are there to provide the tools needed to achieve a positive outcome and not to ruin their lives by taking away the things that they love. It is possible to see a patient come from one of the lowest points in their health-related life to one of strength and control. I absolutely loved to hear that a patient could feel the benefits of mindful eating as related to renal diet recommendations.
Cons
Ineffective management; from every level and sphere of influence. The entire company lacks organization. Training is rushed and very poorly presented. Individual facility administrators are allowed to do things outside of the "DaVita-way" but fail to understand that they are greatly impacting the roles and responsibilities of other disciplines. Much of the new initiatives were said to have been presented to the FA's yet little support and resources were actually offered. Patients are allowed to behave in some of the most dysfunctional ways, often endangering other patients and staff, yet no actions are taken to correct their behavior. Constant pressure of improving clinic "numbers" and accusations that lab values were out of range because the patient wasn't provided enough education even though the patient admitted to ignoring recommendations. The slogan "It takes a team" is the same as saying, you are on your own in every way. Overall, I wish I could erase my experience there from my brain. Just thinking about it makes me sad!
