Kristi Arends
December 2022
Kristi
Arends
,
RN, BSN
Adult
Butterworth, Blodgett and Helen DeVos Children's Hospital
Grand Rapids
,
MI
United States

 

 

 

Kristi is a very approachable manager and easy to talk to about any issues that arise, within the unit, the campus, or in the personal lives of the staff.
Kristi was hired into the unit earlier in 2022, and since then has made drastic and positive improvements for the Adult Nephrology Team, as well as the units at Butterworth and Blodgett Campus. The staff members are extremely happy with all the changes Kristi has accomplished and are so excited for what the future awaits with her leadership!

We can rely on her all the time! Kristi is always on top of any issues the staff faces and takes them head-on to fix them in a timely and efficient matter. She always keeps staff updated and communicates with staff on a daily basis, if not more than once a day, with important information, current problems and potential solutions, and outcomes of a trial.

Kristi coordinates with the kitchen to have available one-handed meal options for patients who want to eat while having dialysis (in the outpatient world, patients at dialysis treatment centers are not allowed to eat due to complications, and in the inpatient world, this happens as well, but need some cooperation with kitchen to eliminate food choices while in the dialysis treatment). Another example is working with other departments to keep the unit clean, and stocked appropriately, and supporting the team to keep the units running smoothly.

Kristi is a very approachable manager and easy to talk to about any issues that arise, within the unit, the campus, or in the personal lives of the staff. She is understanding, caring, empathetic, and fair, following spectrums policies and helping staff to understand them in their situations. Not only that, Kristi is busy with meetings daily, but always tries to help out the units at Butterworth and Blodgett. She is always out on the floor asking how staff are and what she can do to help, and this is so great to see a leader step out for a few minutes to help around the unit and check on staff frequently throughout the day.

Kristi is very inclusive in decision making, what works best for the units and patients, and makes sure staff members are recognized for their accomplishments, and cultures (our department has a mix of various cultures, and she helps us to be included in potlucks for the cultural celebrations such as Asian Month, Hispanic Heritage Month and Filipino American Month in October 2022) work anniversaries, and recognitions daily for staff at Butterworth and Blodgett Adult Nephrology units/campuses.

With all the positive changes Kristi has done for the unit in the time that she has been here, not only does she tackle a problem head-on and keep staff in communication, but she also eliminated the on-call position for overnight calls and made this into a 2nd shift 7 pm -7 am position trial run currently. She also made sure staff are comfortable with using different dialysis machines and arranged for the outside vendor to participate at both campuses for a few weeks so all staff can be properly trained, re-trained, refreshed, or can ask questions.

Kristi always has a positive attitude. She has created an atmosphere of belonging, caring, and compassion in our unit. She's the best manager I have ever had. We are so grateful for such an amazing manager who goes above and beyond for the Dialysis Team and Department!