Powell Steps In As Manor Director Of Nursing

Paige Powell, Director of Nursing at Powder River Manor since June of this year, wears many hats in her position as she directs the nurses at the Manor. Along with managing the care of residents, dealing with Medicaid and Medicare, and a host of other duties, Paige is also a full-time mom to her and her partner Darby Fulton's one-year old son, Landon. On top of all those duties in her daily life, Paige now faces another challenge, as she was diagnosed with a chronic kidney disease that affects her kidney tissue's ability to filter out toxins.

Last week, as Paige fielded phone calls about appointments for residents and worked a myriad of tasks to help keep the Manor running, she sat down for a brief period and let us know a little about herself, and what the future holds as she looks for a donor kidney.

Powell grew up in Circle on her family's ranch/farm, and went on to graduate from the University of Mary in Bismarck, ND with a Bachelor's Degree in Nursing.

She then worked in fetal and maternal care, assisting in all portions of care from caring for the pregnant mother to labor and delivery and post-partum care of the mother and child.

Paige went on to work as a traveling nurse for two years, even working at Powder River Manor during that period. Paige told us she worked at a variety of positions as a traveller and gained a great deal of knowledge about the nursing community as a whole.

Powell moved to Broadus in the summer of 2020, joining her partner, Darby Fulton. The couple enjoys spending time on the lake at Fort Peck, and going on adventures with friends.

In June, Paige took over as DON (Director of Nursing) for the retiring Twin Klar.

As DON at the Manor, Paige's responsibilities are wide reaching, as she is responsible for CNA and RN scheduling, management, preparation of training, work flow, and many other tasks such as making sure the nursing department passes the state surveys. Paige told us that she now has additional duties in human resources such as hiring of new nurses. Resident management is also a part of her duties, making sure the residents are properly cared for, working with providers to order or change medications, and working on care plans. She also works shifts on the floor as an RN.

Paige recently found out that her kidneys were not operating properly, and she would need a new kidney. On Monday of this week, Paige underwent a procedure to begin dialysis, which means she will have to regularly undergo dialysis treatment, removing waste products from her blood until a donor kidney is located and transplanted.

A Facebook page titled "Paige's Filter Replacement" has been set up in order to spread the word on finding a live donor.

The process of finding whether or not a person is an eligible kidney donor begins with filling out a questionnaire from uchealthlivingdonor.org, which Powell said takes about 15 minutes. Those meeting the requirements will undergo some lab work locally.

The next steps are detailed on the site: The transplant team will then assess the potential donors. When they think they have a good match they will ask that donor to go to Denver together with Paige. Her insurance DOES pay for all the donor's medical expenses. If you and Paige are the BEST match, they put you into Paired Kidney Exchange. How that works is for example....if Person A was a donor but only a 75% match with Paige, then they put Person A and Paige in this exchange and you may match with a donor/recipient in some other region. If that's the case then you would go into the hospital together, you would go into surgery the same time as the other donor and they would fly your kidneys to the recipients. Kind of cool, right?! The donor surgery is laparoscopic with 1-2 days in the hospital and then some follow ups. Simple for the donor!

When asked about the future lifestyle of kidney donors, Paige noted that her mom received a kidney donation from her Grandma in the mid-1990s. They are both healthy and doing well today.

As we spoke, Paige referred back to her love for her job: "I'm just happy to have this opportunity. I love my job, my co-workers, and the residents."

Sean Hill, Medical Administrator at Powder River Manor, had this to say about Powell: "Paige has done an outstanding job at bringing together the direct care staff and truly creating a team environment. She has taken on many of the organizational duties of being completely "in charge" and has promoted a role of fairness while holding all staff accountable in maintaining the high standards for health care and providing for all our residents. As we turn the corner in 2022, Paige has started planning for the next year with ensuring staff are fully current with all certifications, working with efficiencies in budgeting and costs, as well as continuing to build a great team. She and her team are assets the Nursing Home could not operate without and should be praised at the high level of skill they maintain within our community."

We wish Paige the best in her search for a new kidney, and are happy to see her excel in her position at the Manor.