President’s Message: Summer 2012

July 2012

A New, Big Step for BONENT

I hope everyone has had a great summer!!!!

As you saw on the first page, this past month, we hosted the first-ever BONENT Regional Education Seminar! Held at the Marriot Oak Brook Resort in a Chicago suburb, it was a huge success! The attendance was great. The speakers were superb! It was an excellent learning experience for the 125 nephrology professionals who attended.

The lead speaker was Dori Schatell from Medical Education Institute. She also signed copies of her excellent new book, “Help, I Need Dialysis” for some of the attendees.

Among the other speakers were Lynda Ball, National Access Manager for FMC and new ANNA Treasurer, as well as Shane Simon, National Coordinator of Home and In-Center Dialysis for DaVita.

Gail Wick, former two-time ANNA President, spoke on Communication in the Dialysis Center. Her presentation will be available on the BONENT website for review in the next few months.

Comments gleaned from our attendee survey were extremely positive. We have a few growing pains to work out before the next seminar, but, we thank Lyle Smith, Seminar Chair for a great job selecting the speakers and topics. We also thank the BONENT Executive Office for coordinating all the administrative aspects of our first seminar.

More Seminars Coming to Orlando, NY & Ohio

Our second BONENT Regional Education Seminar will be held the weekend of Sunday, Feb 17th in Orlando, FL. Watch the BONENT website (www.BONENT.org) for details about the date, location, speakers, and more.

We are looking for a few BONENT members in Florida to help the day of the seminar. If you are available, email Lyle Smith, the new BONENT Director of Continuing Education Programs at lyle_bonent@msn.com.

We are also planning future seminars in New York and Ohio in 2013.

Board Elections: Cast Your Vote on Page 3

The other big news is that BONENT is having elections for two seats on the Board of Directors for members who hold the CHT certification. We have 3 candidates on the ballot (see page 3). We need all members (CHT, CHN, CPDN) to vote for their choice for the 2 members that will hold these 2 positions, which are so critical to the future of BONENT. The ballot and biographies of the candidates is included in this edition of the BONENT Certification Update.

Save $$$ by Trying our Online Member Benefits Program

The other thing that I would like to highlight is the one year-old BONENT Member Benefits Program. You can access it in the horizontal blue bar on the BONENT website. Make sure you read the info and take advantage of the opportunities of being a BONENT member (which means you can save a lot!)

The following list of services and product area discounts are available to current, paid up members:

  • Electronics
  • Entertainment (Movie tickets & more)
  • Groceries
  • ID Theft Protection
  • Insurance: Auto, Home & Life
  • Pet Health
  • Pet Insurance
  • Pet Prescriptions & Drugs
  • Restaurants
  • Roadside Assistance
  • Travel
  • Vision

Click here to read previous Letters from the President.