Meet Mikki

Mikki Ward got her start with Fresenius Medical Care North Amerca as a Patient Care Technician (PCT), having worked as an EMT-A and Nurse Aid in San Antonio, TX. From PCT to Staff RN, to promotion to Director of Nurses (what we would now call Clinical Manager), Mikki continues her now a 32-year career with Fresenius as a Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs. Mikki's story shows how rewarding a career with FMCNA can be. Learn more about Mikki's story and her innovation and excellence below.

LET’S HEAR WHAT MIKKI HAD TO SAY:

Q: Why did you join the FMCNA team?

A: I saw an ad in the newspaper for a position as a dialysis tech in the small town I live in. I had worked 40 miles away at a hospital and loved the thought of being closer to home, so I applied. The Director of Nurses asked me about my experience in the medical field. I told her I was a volunteer EMT-A and had worked as a nurse aid in a hospital in San Antonio. She asked me how soon I could start and when I planned to start nursing school. She also said that she intended to retire someday, and she expected me to be ready to step into her role. Mind you this was during my interview for a PCT. I had thought about nursing school but I was a wife and mother and it didn’t seem reachable but now I had someone who not only believed I could do it, but would help me along the way to reach those goals.

Q: How do you feel that your role is a “vital part” in supporting our patients and our company?

A: As a Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs Methods and Systems I see my role in the company is to make the jobs of others more efficient and understandable. Everything is regulated in one way or another so developing and maintaining systems that can help make sense of the work we have to accomplish is imperative both clinically and operationally. At the same time, these systems allow us to gather important data to predict issues and prevent negative outcomes.

Q: Describe an experience or feeling that stands out when thinking of your career with FMCNA?

A: After seven years as a PCT and completing nursing school while working full time, I became a staff RN. A year later I was promoted to Director of Nurses (DON) which we now call Clinical Manager. I was now the leader in the same facility that hired me as a PCT. Along with my now 32-year career with Fresenius what stands out most are the people that helped me along the way. The leaders and supervisors helped me to identify what I admired about their leadership and how they encouraged me along the way. I remember one of my supervisors once told me she didn’t think I would like a position I was considering because I was “too nice”. I never saw that as a bad thing, but I realized she was saying that sometimes you have to have hard conversations and she wasn’t sure I could do that. Although it’s never fun, I knew I could by being respectful, listening, and exhibiting what I now know as our core values. I have had some good supervisors and I have had some great supervisors, but I have learned from them all.

Q: Do you feel that you have a powerful effect in your role? 

A: I do feel that I have a powerful effect on my role. Telling my story of going from PCT to Senior Director and several pivotal positions in between shows this company stands by its employees and wants to help them grow. When I’m in facilities I always ask PCTs about going to nursing school and becoming our leaders.

Q: Do you feel you or your team/department leads, innovates, succeeds?

A: I feel the Regulatory Department has been very innovative. We developed and use an application, KIMA, that mirrors CMS surveys. We can go into a facility before CMS arrives and help them see opportunities to improve that not only results in fewer citations when they are surveyed but improves the quality of care and safety to our patients. The added bonus is this application also helps us accurately compile and report on data that previously we had to manually maintain.

Q: Do you feel that your role allows you to be a partner in caring?

A: My role allows me to be a partner in caring. To me, that means listening to and supporting our customers whether that is a peer, a Medical Director, someone on the operational team, a Biomed, or anyone else. If what I do can help them, then they can, in turn, help our patients and staff. Everyone wins.

About Fresenius Medical Care

We have become a global leader in healthcare because of the unwavering dedication our people bring to work every day. Whether that means developing new-to-market dialysis technology or educating patients, our team touches the lives of more than 190,000 patients through innovative care and profound, personal connections.

With Fresenius Medical Care North America, you will “be the difference,” enabling patients to thrive, providing comfort to families, supporting coworkers so they can realize their goals, compelling our company to achieve through innovation and performance, and driving the development of your career.

Our team is made up of over 70,000 dedicated employees in North America. All of them focus on being the difference and delivering the highest-quality care to people with kidney disease – helping them to lead longer, better, and healthier lives.