The cost of using nurses is lower than hiring a doctor, and that allows the Kansas-Western Missouri program to see more patients than ones that require a doctor. It began in Kansas City with one part-time nurse. Now it has two full-time nurses who screen patients at churches, community centers and dialysis centers around Kansas City. Affiliate dialysis centers in Topeka, Wichita and other cities also screen patients. Last year nurses held screenings about 500 times and hope to double that number this year as the program builds contacts with organizations, said program director Kerry Lavery.
Nurses visit dialysis centers because kidney disease is hereditary.
At the time, Knight was on medication for high blood pressure, a sign of possible kidney disease. Despite the medication, the program's nurses found her blood pressure still was high. Knight then saw a kidney specialist who found a blockage in the renal artery leading to her kidneys. Instead, a doctor inserted a stint into her blocked renal artery, and she was out of the hospital in six hours. Now she tests her blood pressure regularly and has yearly sonograms to monitor her renal arteries.