Profiles in Kidney Care

Each month, the BCPRA features an inspiring story from the renal community on the BC Renal Agency homepage. For this month's profile, see below, or view the archive of past profiles.  

It's in her blood... 
A lifetime interest in all things renal

Angie Robinson’s first steps on her career path as a renal nurse were taken well before she finished elementary school.

“As a young girl, I used to love playing with my grandmother’s peritoneal dialysis equipment and supplies,” says Angie, who is now the home hemodialysis educator for Northern Health in Prince George.

When her grandmother was transitioned to hemodialysis and moved to Vancouver for treatment, Angie looked forward to visiting her grandma in the hemodialysis unit at St. Paul’s Hospital.

“I always had an interest in kidney disease,” says Angie. “I didn’t understand it at the time, but those experiences definitely set me on a course for renal nursing.”

More recently, her uncle received a kidney transplant (his wife was the organ donor) after he developed polycystic kidney disease. So as Angie points out, her family experience with kidney disease has spanned all types of renal replacement therapy.

Since graduating as a nurse from the College of New Caledonia in 1992, Angie has worked mostly in renal care, but not always in Prince George. Early in her career an urge for a change of scenery led her to accept a nursing position in Saudi Arabia, where she worked with colleagues who, like her, were mostly transplanted Westerners. She says she enjoyed her time in the Middle East, and made the most of it by travelling widely around the region to places in Africa and Southeast Asia.

After two years in the Saudi desert, however, Angie became homesick. She says she missed the four seasons, and especially winter! On returning to Prince George she resumed her work as a renal nurse, and in 2004 became the educator for patients registered for the home hemodialysis program during its initial pilot phase. She’s been in that role ever since.

“I love what I do,” says Angie. “I have a passion for it, and find it very satisfying to help patients learn how to do their own dialysis so they can stay in their home communities.”

Angie was also a key member of the development team for Prince George’s independent care unit, which opened three years ago and where she works to help patients take increased responsibility for managing their own dialysis.

Outside of work, Angie enjoys a variety of outdoor activities, including cross-country skiing and snowshoeing in the winter months and downhill trail riding on her mountain bike at other times of the year.

Profile Archives

Summer 2011: Maureen Donnelly 1956-2011
Spring 2011: Anne Gloster Retires
Winter 2010/2011: Independent nocturnal dialysis: A patient's perspective, Kathy Denamy
September/October 2010: Nanaimo nephrologist, Rachel Carson
July/August 2010: Interior Health's renal executive sponsor, Joanne Konnert
June 2010: PHC's new renal program director, Warren Hart
April/May 2010: Fraser Health renal manager, Terry Satchwill
February/March 2010: Executive Lead, PROMIS-Strategy, Business Development Client Solutions, Dele Omueti
December 2009/January 2010: BC Children's Nephrology Program Clinical Coordinator, Lori Paille
November 2009: Interior Health PROMIS Champion, Tina Kenyon
September/October 2009: Renal Patient Advocate, Doug Hobbs
July/August 2009: Vancouver based Nephrologist, Dr. Paul Taylor
May 2009: Vancouver Island Health Authority's Brenda Uhrynuk
April 2009: Medical Director for Northern Health's renal program, Dr. Malcolm Ogborn
March 2009: St. Paul's Hospital biomedical engineer, Doug King
January/February 2009: Fraser Nephrologist, Dr. Mohamud Karim
November/December 2008: Fraser Nephrologist, Dr. Victor Chan
October 2008: Dr. Gerry Karr and BC Nephrology Days 2008
September 2008: Fraser Nephrologists, Dr. Constantine and Dr. Schwartz
August 2008: Marcia Bell, Patient Advocate
July 2008:  Keith Whitmore, BCPRA Senior Director, Renal Networks
June 2008: Nicole Gorman, Nurse Practitioner, Providence Health Care
May 2008: Laurie Ledger, Northern Health Renal Program
April 2008: Pediatric Pharmacy
March 2008: TeleRenal in Rural Interior Health
February 2008: PD Patient, Hilda Gregory
January 2008: PVAST II Successes
December 2007: Independent Hemodialysis in Northern Health
November 2007: Lai-Lin Harvalias receives Wilma Crockett Memorial Award
October 2007: Providence Health's "Short Stay Bed" program