Renal Consult is edited by Jane S. Davis, CRNP, DNP, a member of the Clinician Reviews editorial board, who is a nurse practitioner in the Division of Nephrology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and is the communications chairperson for the National Kidney Foundation’s Council of Advanced Practitioners (NKF-CAP); and Kim Zuber, PA-C, MSPS, DFAAPA, a semi-retired PA who works with the American Academy of Nephrology PAs and is a past chair of the NKF-CAP. This month’s responses were authored by Nicole D. McCormick, MS, MBA, NP-C, CCTC, who practices at the University of Colorado Renal Transplant Clinic in Aurora, Colorado, and Mary Rogers Sorey, MSN, who is an Assistant in Medicine in the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville.
Per proposed thresholds, patients with a score < 5% would be deemed “low risk”; with scores of 5% to 15%, “intermediate risk”; and with scores > 15%, “high risk.”1,2
The Kidney Failure Risk Equation can be incorporated into clinic visits to provide context for lab results. For patients with low risk for progression, optimal care and lifestyle measures can be reinforced. For those with intermediate or high risk, more intensive treatments and appropriate referrals can be initiated. (The National Kidney Foundation advises referral when a patient’s estimated GFR is 20 mL/min or the urine ACR is ≥ 300 mg/g.3) Providing a numeric risk for progression can help alleviate the patient’s uncertainty surrounding the diagnosis of CKD. —NDM
Nicole D. McCormick, MS, MBA, NP-C, CCTC University of Colorado Renal Transplant Clinic, Aurora, Colorado
