RAN-Vic : renal access nurses of Victoria unite.

The Renal Access Nurse has recently become an integral member of the renal health care team in Australia. Research has shown that the introduction of a Renal Access Nurse into dialysis units enhances the referral process for new access, improves survival rates, and success of access creation. Australia has been relatively slow in the introduction of the role of the Renal Access Nurse. The USA, UK and Europe have been utilising Renal Access Nurses in renal units for many years and their roles are firmly entrenched.

The first Renal Access Nurse was introduced in Victoria in 2003, increasing to 7 in 2007. It was evident in 2006 that a networking system for Renal Access Nurses was needed in Victoria, so RAN-Vic was born.

RAN-Vic consists of 6 Renal Access Nurses from the major hubs in Melbourne and Geelong, thus covering a large part of the Victorian dialysis community through satellite units throughout the state.

The group meet quarterly, with the main goals being to network, share ideas, support each other with challenges arising from the new role, benchmark, undertake quality initiatives and education of renal nursing staff. By doing this, we hope to improve outcomes for patients, improve work practices pertaining to renal access, and further redefine the new role.

RAN-Vic is the first of its kind in Australia, providing care for renal access for the dialysis population throughout Victoria. We recommend for all states in Australia to consider forming a Renal Access Group to help improve renal access outcomes.