President’s Message: Fall 2019

Fall 2019

A Lot Happening During the BONENT 45th Anniversary

The 2019 Certification Amnesty Program

BONENT has had another great year! We have been celebrating our 45th anniversary this year and have tried our best to make that the best year for BONENT ever!

International Expansion

We have expanded our reach nationally and internationally. We held exams in India, Pakistan and Fiji for the first time and hope to be administering exams in the Philippines. We now have certified member in more than 12 countries.

2 Successful Seminars in 2019 & 3 More in 2020

In 2019, we had 2 BONENT Regional Seminars in Chicago and Newark. These both had excellent attendance and really great speakers. This is a time to meet other dialysis professionals and network. There are always participants from 10-12 States at each seminar. This gives you the chance to see what people outside your units, outside company, outside your state are doing. When you stay in your rut, you can only see the walls. These and other Regional Seminars give you the chance to expand your expertise.

For 2020, BONENT will have 3 seminars in Miami, Chicago and Newark. See the ad on page 4 of our newsletter for the dates of our three seminars in 2020 and our website for more details. Paulette Sheeley and Lyle Smith will co-chair the Continuing Education Committee for 2020. John Larsen CHT will be the BONENT Seminar Coordinator.

If you have suggestions for speakers or topics for these 3 Seminars, contact Paulette, Lyle or John. Email addresses are on the BONENT website.

The first BONENT Regional Seminar will be in the Miami area on April 5, 2020. The local organizing committee will be Kay Gardner at kgardner19@cox.net and Connie Mears at cmears@americanrenal.com. If you are interested in volunteering to get the word out in South Florida, contact them.

So, make an effort to get to a BONENT Regional Seminar in 2020. Bring your non BONENT member colleagues that are CCHT’s! They are more than welcome.

We’re Updating Our Exams

In 2019, we completed the revision of the CPDN exam. So, it will be ready to go January 2020 and the CHN revision is nearly complete and will follow soon.

For 2020, BONENT will be doing a Job Analysis (JA) for the CHT exam. We use this process to ensure that the BONENT exam is reflecting current practice. We will bring a group of CHT’s together at our testing company. We need to find CHT members of a very diverse background. We need someone from each of the LDO’s and from at least one non-profit dialysis company. We need to recruit these participants from all regions of the company. Finally, we need diversity in years of experience. We need a CHT with less than 5 years and one with >15 years. We need new voices in this conversation. So, if you want to be part of this or know someone who would be good, contact Kay Gardner at kgardner19@cox.net or Lyle Smith at lyle_bonent@msn.com. They are the Co-Chairs of the Exam Development Committee.

We will also be holding an on-line question writing session for the CHBT. Please contact Byron Roshto at Byron.roshto@fmc-na.com as he will be coordinating this.

Board Members Update

We have a newly elected Board Director, Rebecca England CHT. She is from Tennessee and has worked as a Patient Care Technician in the past, but presently is a Bio-Med Technician. She brings her experience of over 10 years in dialysis and will be an excellent addition to the BONENT Board. I would like everyone to welcome her!

At the BONENT Board meeting in November, Lyle Smith the BONENT Vice President for Examinations and Continuing Education announced that he will leave the Board at the end of 2020 fiscal year. Lyle has been on the Board of Director for over 20 years and has held many posts. He will be greatly missed, but will remain a BONENT member active in BONENT issues. John Larson CHT has been named by the BONENT Board as the Coordinator of BONENT Seminars. When you see him, congratulate John.

Finally, there will be an election for a Board Director position for a CHT or CBHT. Each Board Director term is for 4 years. The Spring newsletter will have the form to register as a candidate. There will also be an RN position on the Board that will be appointed by the BONENT Board when Lyle finishes up in October 2020. Anyone interested that has a CHN or CPDN certification can send the President an email about their interest. We probably should be looking for a CPDN, since vacancy leaves no CPDN’s on the Board.

Have a wonderful holiday season with those most important in your life!

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