Joann Albers was a 23-year-old nurse at the forefront of chronic dialysis in Seattle in 1960, caring for early patients such as Clyde Shields, Rolin Hemming, and Harvey Gentry and later serving as Nursing Director of the Northwest Kidney Center when it pioneered outpatient dialysis. In this 2009 interview, she reflects on early dialysis techniques—including Sweden Freezer tanks, Kiil dialyzers, and maintaining Scribner shunts—as well as her experiences traveling with her husband, Jim Albers, an early patient using the “suitcase kidney.” She also discusses the evolving role of nephrology nursing, the founding of the American Association for Nephrology Nurses in 1969, and her perspective on 35 years of dialysis alongside her husband.
